BILLICH GALLERY

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Known for his avant-garde style, contemporary surrealist Charles Billich is one of Australia’s most prominent living artists. A prolific painter, drawer and sculptor for the past 35 years, Charles Billich works in all media forms and specialises in an impressive breadth of subject matter, including ballet, sport, architecture, portraiture, stage and classism.

Born in Lovran, Croatia, much of Charles Billich’s subject matter has been shaped by his fascinating personal history. Charles’s ballet collections have been inspired by his early life as a student dancer with the Opera de Ballet in Rijeka. Also during this early period, a politically-minded Charles wrote satirical articles for a local magazine, which regrettably lead him to be sentenced to ten years in prison by the Yugoslav state. Charles was granted amnesty two years later and sought political asylum in Austria, where he went on to study art at the Yolkschocheschule, one of Salsberg’s finest art schools.