Bundanon has announced a major exhibition season, Man on Fire: Visions of Nebuchadnezzar, bringing Arthur Boyd‘s iconic work into dialogue with a significant new commission by leading Australian contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell.
Rachel Kent, CEO, Bundanon said: “We are proud to present Man on Fire: Visions of Nebuchadnezzar as part of our 2026 exhibition season. Arthur Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzar works are among the most morally searching in the Australian canon, and they continue to resonate decades after they were made. Shaun Gladwell’s new commission, created here in the Shoalhaven, will bring Boyd’s ancient story of hubris, exile and transformation into urgent contemporary relief. This exhibition will see two great Australian artists in conversation across time, right here at Bundanon.”
Curated by Sophie O’Brien and presented in the Art Museum from 4 July – 11 October 2026, the exhibition will be a timely and expansive presentation of Boyd’s renowned Nebuchadnezzar series. Produced largely in the 1960s during his time in the UK, the works depict the Biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar who, in The Old Testament, was punished by God for his pride and condemned to live as an animal in the wilderness for seven years.
Arthur Boyd‘s treatment of the myth is deeply personal, driven by his firm pacifism and informed by the turbulence of the Vietnam War era. The works become a meditation on unchecked ego and pride, and the fragility of the human condition. The exhibition will feature major paintings, ink drawings and etchings from the Bundanon Collection, alongside key loans from the National Gallery of Australia and generous private lenders.
Shaun Gladwell‘s new commission responds directly to Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzar works and was created in residence in the unique natural environment of Bundanon. Over a career spanning more than two decades, Gladwell is best known for striking moving image works that explore the politics and poetics of human movement, often using the constraints of physical challenge and endurance to reflect the relationship between the body and its environment.
With a longstanding interest in Boyd’s work and familial roots in the Shoalhaven, Gladwell brings a deep affinity for Boyd’s concerns, particularly around how masculinity can be performed, tested and transformed, and the role of art as a site of metamorphosis and renewal. Boyd borrowed the Nebuchadnezzar myth, as he did with so many cultural stories, to explore ideas of human downfall, suffering and transformation. As with Boyd, the story of a king fallen from grace and cast into nature, exiled from wealth and culture to the wilderness and extreme poverty, is ripe for interpretation by Gladwell. A resonant story of catharsis, it is a myth that offers both artists an opportunity to grapple with the physical and the metaphysical.
Bringing together two leading Australian artists across generations, Man on Fire: Visions of Nebuchadnezzar will explore an ancient story of hubris and undoing in new and compelling ways. Illuminating the enduring questions of power, exile and human frailty, the meeting of Boyd and Gladwell will create fresh perspectives on themes of masculinity, psychological reckoning and renewal.
Sophie O’Brien, Head of Curatorial and Learning, Bundanon said: “The Nebuchadnezzar story of a powerful man fallen from grace was the allegory through which Arthur Boyd could articulate ideas of masculinity and inheritance, as well as formulate a strong protest against the Vietnam War. Focusing on a moment of transformation in the paintings, Boyd presents us with a male figure at mental and physical breaking point, becoming as one with the animals and trees. A metaphor for self-realisation, these works present Boyd’s ethical, deeply humanist position: that all living things are equal and that all humans have the potential for failure or despair. From a current perspective, Shaun Gladwell shares these convictions yet brings them into the present. Embodying the parable literally, the younger artist employs his own body as material for artmaking, responding directly to the natural environment that Boyd had worked so hard to preserve.”
Ends
IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE
MEDIA CONTACTS
To request interviews, further information or imagery please contact Articulate: Siân Davies sian@articulateadvisory.com 0402 728 462 or Sasha Haughan sasha@articulateadvisory.com, 0405 006 035
