Biography
Neilton Clarke is an Australian artist and printmaker born in Sydney on September 13, 1958, who has spent much of his career between Australia and Japan. He undertook his training at UNSW College of Fine Arts (COFA), majoring in painting and printmaking.
In the 1990s, Clarke undertook a half-year studio residency in Tokyo as a Japan Foundation invitee, and he was subsequently based in Japan from 1993 to 2018. During this extended period in Japan, he taught at Tama Art University and Joshibi University of Art and Design, becoming deeply immersed in Japanese artistic culture and printmaking traditions. He has also undertaken artist-in-residence programs in France, Canada, and Thailand.
Clarke is one of Australia's most internationally recognized mokuhanga practitioners. He was among the eleven Australian artists featured in the juried international exhibition 'Beauty of Mokuhanga: Discipline and Sensibility' at the University of Hawaii at Manoa during the 2017 International Mokuhanga Conference, where he presented a paper titled 'Loaded Beauty.' He won an award at the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference in Echizen, Japan, and his prints were displayed in the Oceania regional exhibition.
His numerous awards include the Moya Dyring Scholarship, the Dyason Bequest Award, and a NSW Ministry for the Arts International Projects Program Grant. Clarke's work is represented in major collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and several international institutions. He is a member of Sydney Printmakers.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇦🇺Australia
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Neilton Clarke is an Australian artist and printmaker born in Sydney on September 13, 1958, who has spent much of his career between Australia and Japan. He undertook his training at UNSW College of Fine Arts (COFA), majoring in painting and printmaking.
Neilton Clarke's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Neilton Clarke is a contemporary printmaker working in the mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock) tradition. Recognition through awards and exhibitions supports growing collector interest. Prices for contemporary mokuhanga prints range from $150 for smaller works to $2,000 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $240–$800 range. The global mokuhanga community has been growing, with increasing exhibition opportunities and collector interest. Contemporary mokuhanga represents an affordable entry point for collectors.
