Dimensions
129 x 198 x 18mm
The name might not be immediately recognisable, but his neon airbrush paintings of Australian suburban houses have already become familiar icons. Howard Arkley was a wild man, and a fascinating artist. This book describes the artistic breakthroughs, his fascination and friendship with musicians such as Nick Cave, his tangled relationships with his family and a succession of wives and his struggle with an addiction to heroin which eventually killed him in 1998.
'Brief Lives' is a series of books just 50,000 words long and illustrated with photographs. The series is a recognition that many Australian lives, while worth a book, are not of sufficient interest to warrant the marathon 400-page approach. This length also allows writers to concentrate on just one aspect or period in the lives of more interesting people.
