Ian Gentle

Ian Robertson Gentle (28 September 1945 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian artist who won the Blake Prize in 1979. Gentle's primary medium was eucalyptus branches, which he used to create sculptural installations that mimic drawing in the air.

Early life and training Ian Gentle was born in Preston on 28 September 1945 to Jack and Phyllis Gentle. In 1958 the family moved to Healesville, Victoria, where his father built the family home. By the 1970s he traveled south and moved to Sydney, where he lived in his car in Kings Cross and enrolled in Bankstown TAFE for a year. and later was admitted as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wollongong in 2008.

Career As an artist, Gentle took inspiration from Arte Povera, which makes sculptural assemblages from everyday found materials. the Art Gallery of South Australia, Sydney College of the Arts, Wollongong City Gallery, Griffith University, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Artbank,

Gentle had his first exhibition in a commercial gallery in 1975 at Stairs Gallery, on Crown Street in Wollongong, Nestled at the foot of the Illawarra escarpment, it overlooks the ocean near the current day Seacliff Bridge. At the time, another prominent artist from Sydney, painter Brett Whiteley, had inquired about the space, however, the Clifton School of Arts Committee offered the place to Gentle. and Glenn Barkley, who was Senior Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (2008–2014). During 1991, gentle also exhibited in 'Identities: Art from Australia', an international exhibition held in Taipei. Gentle hoped that the building could be saved and would remain in the hands of the local community, supporting the newly formed School of Arts Committee, which was tasked with fundraising and lobbying for the restoration of the building.