In Work & Play, Stephen Clively explores people at work, at leisure and sometimes somewhere in between. Using collage, acrylic paint and mixed media, he depicts restaurant and café workers, customers, musicians and artists’ models, drawing attention to their gestures, expressions and surroundings.

Building on his 2025 exhibition at the Front Layers and Backdrops, Clively combines observed everyday life with more deliberate portraiture. His compositions bring together fragments of printed paper, patterns, textures and colour, creating layered images in which people and their environments interact. The exhibition offers a lively and sometimes playful view of contemporary Australian life.

Stephen Clively is a Canberra-based artist who focuses on depicting humanity in wild expressive paintings or in detailed collages. He has been a finalist in the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Prize, the Wollongong Art Prize and the Tim Copes Portrait Prize, as well as being awarded the Best Figure or Portrait Prize at the Artists Society of Canberra Spring Exhibition on five occasions. 

Opening Night, Friday 20th November. Tickets Available HERE!