Martin Sharp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Sharp (born 1942) is an
Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and
film-maker. Sharp has made tremendous contributions to Australian
and international culture since the early 60s, and is hailed as
Australia's foremost pop artist.
The "acknowledged king of the UK
poster scene in the 60s", his famous psychedelic posters of Dylan,
Donovan and others rank as classics of the genre, alongside the work
of Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat and
Milton Glaser. His covers, cartoons and illustrations were a central
feature of Oz magazine, both in Australia and in London. Martin also
co-wrote one of Cream's most famous songs, "Tales of Brave Ulysses",
and in the 1970s he became a champion of singer Tiny Tim, and of
Sydney's embattled Luna Park.
Martin was born in Sydney in 1942
and was educated at Cranbrook private school, where one of his
teachers was the noted artist Justin O'Brien. In 1960 Martin
enrolled at the National Art School at East Sydney, where began his
artistic career, contributing to the shortlived student magazine The
Arty Wild Oat, along with fellow artists Garry Shead and John Firth
Smith. He also began submitting cartoons to The Bulletin. In 1961 he
enrolled for two terms in Architecture at Sydney University before
returning to the NAS.
