Henry Bateman

Biography

Henry Bateman has been creating art for most of his life. Having no great interest in sport and being somewhat of a loner during his formative years, he spent a considerable amount of his time painting and drawing. He did this to such an extent that art was only subject in which he excelled at school.
With a dubious academic record to his credit, he followed his parent's advice and completed a 5 year apprenticeship as an electronics technician. A few months after its completion, he joined Strand Electric, one of Australia's major theatrical supply companies. Six months later he bid them a fond farewell, relocated to the other side of the country and commenced work as the Assistant Technical Manager for the Perth Entertainment Centre.
Here his artistic skills were encouraged and he started learning the intricacies of stage lighting. Rubbing shoulders with both international and national lighting designers, his skills quickly developed and he soon found himself creating light shows for the acts that graced the boards of this 8000 seat touring venue.
This was followed by a 2 year stint as Technical Director for the Western Australian Ballet Company. As well as lighting the majority of the company's productions, he started to design and construct the stage settings for some of their ballets.
Following his heart, he again traversed the country relocating in Queensland. He kept body and soul together with itinerant theatrical work and whilst resting between engagements, his passion for drawing and painting resurfaced. A move south to NSW saw his occupation with painting increase and his theatrical pursuits became a part time quest for a livelihood.
After 18 months in the premier state it was off across the continent again with his soon to be wife in tow. The painting bug was now firmly entrenched and he enrolled at The Claremont School of Art. He completed the first year which at the end of he held his first one man exhibition at the Octagon Theatre on the campus of the University of WA. During that year, he also designed the sets and the lighting for the Plays Plus Players production of Dennis Potters', Son of Man, to universal critical acclaim
Still an indifferent student instead of returning to art school for his second year, he set up his own studio and commenced to paint full time. Following the pattern set by his time in NSW, he kept body and soul together for himself and his young family with itinerate theatrical work. His second one man exhibition entitled "Hung up on a Wall" created some controversy with adjacent business owners and the owners of the building in which gallery was housed. The poster advertising the exhibition, an abstracted nude self portrait, was the cause for concern.
The arrival of his third child impressed upon Bateman that neither his art nor itinerate theatrical work would produce sufficient income to feed, clothe and educate his small tribe. This time he head south to the WA town of Albany where he took over the contract for the management of their Town Hall Theatre.
He kept his artistic side fed with the creation of an advertising company, Manad Management & Promotion. It was very much a hands on operation for Bateman and apart from creating posters and print advertising, he turned his talent to producing television commercials. During the last few years of the 10 he spent there, he was among the top 5 of advertisers buying air time with the local television station.
The educational needs of the family dictated a return to the big smoke of Perth. He found the next 5 years a challenging time and although polishing his writing skills with free lance work, his art took a back seat. The permanent estrangement from his partner of 20 years and a fight with the bottle did little to remedy the situation.
At the turn of the century, Bateman convinced Centrelink, the Australian Government's social security agency, he was the man to produce a carved mural for their Perth call centre. During this project, he discovered digital photography. The works you see on this web site, at his exhibitions, of which he has had 2, on his blogs and in his book are the result of his new found engagement with his art that this chance encounter enabled.
The authoring of a book was new learning curve for Bateman and with his new partner at his side, he has another in the works and the ideas for a couple more rattling around in the back of his brain. Whilst at the same time he continues to explore and refine the art that his computer allows him to produce.