About

Desmond Freeman  MA RCA LFDIA
Artist, Interpretive and Exhibition Designer

Desmond studied art and design at the National Art School, Sydney and later graduated with a Master of Arts from the prestigious Royal College of Art, London. While working as a designer in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore he earned a reputation as a leading interior and museum designer never abandoning his passion for painting and drawing. Desmond’s career includes academic appointments as Professor of Design and Head of the Design School at the University of Technology, Sydney and leadership of the Design Institute of Australia, twice as Federal President, President of the Australian Academy of Design and Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts NSW.  He is currently a member of the Academic Board and Chairman of the Scholarly Activity and Research of the Virtu Design Institute.

Desmond’s commercial interior design project work has generally included the commissioning and selection of major 2 and 3 dimensional artwork for buildings as diverse as hospitals, prisons, universities, commercial headquarters, embassies, expo pavilions and private residences. Working now principally in Hong Kong and the Middle East, Desmond values his time in the Southern Highlands working on his latest exhibition ‘Desmond Freeman Paris, Paintings and Drawings’ and his next book to accompany the exhibition.

In recent times Desmond has begun to devote most of his time to painting and has participated in commercial exhibitions of his work and has sold extensively into commercial projects and private collections. His earlier work explored the Australian landscape in bold form often using vibrant colour in multiple layers to achieve richness and depth. Tranquil wetlands, grassfire infernos and sunburnt panoramas emerge with contrasting canvases of fanciful imaginary landscapes. Many works were devised in multiples permitting the presentation of broad landscapes typical of the Australian experience.

Desmond completed a commissioned set of eight pictures entitled “Memories of the Saint Chappelle”. This vibrant series, based on the medieval symbolism of the building’s interiors, initiated an interest in Gothic revival imagery that finds expression in his series of pen and ink drawings of Venice. These highly detailed drawings, sometimes of whole sections of Venice, sometimes of facades or of intimate architectural details, illustrate the diversity of the city’s magnificent architectural range. The exhibition featured original works, and a number of archival, signed prints.

Luca Belgiorno-Nettis AM when he opened the Venice Exhibition at Wombat Hollow on 8 July 2016 launched the 88-page book entitled ‘Desmond Freeman Venice, Impressions in Ink’. Hon. Michael Yabsley of Wombat Hollow, East Kangaloon, NSW and Dominique Maunsell of Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Gallery, Paddington, jointly staged the exhibition.

The Venice book was awarded the Gold Medal in the Fine Art category of the 21st Independent Publishing Awards in New York in April 2017. The awards programme attracted over 5,000 entries from around the world.

Desmond has completed a set of 54 pictures for the next book in the five-volume set - this time on Paris.  ‘Desmond Freeman – Paris Impressions in Ink’ is to be published by Images Publishing, Melbourne and launched on 6 July 2018 again at Wombat Hollow in the Southern Highlands. Later in 2018 there will also be a book launch at the Australian Embassy in Paris followed by an exhibition of the pictures in the Embassy Gallery. The next book in the series will be on the architecture of Rome.