Being able to make a career as an artist depends on being able to move work across the country to be hung in galleries, sold to interstate buyers or entered into competitions. Delivery driver Laurie Burgess spends his life on the road making that happen and he's picked up a deep knowledge of contemporary art along the way.
00:01He could be on a country road in Tasmania or driving across the Nullarbor.
00:09Laurie Burgess clocks up a million kilometres every four years, delivering art around Australia.
00:17I get about 20 days off in January, another half a dozen days at Easter and then that's about it.
00:23It's a non-stop circuit from Perth to Hobart and along the east coast as far north as Noosa.
00:31Life on the road means mostly camping out in his specially designed van alongside the artwork.
00:38I had to make it the most comfortable bed that I was ever going to sleep in because that way I would want to sleep in it.
00:44Along the way Laurie has developed a knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art few could rival.
00:51This is not me blowing my own trumpet, it's just the way it is, but there's no one person that sees as many galleries as myself or as many artists as myself.
01:00For artists, being able to sell to buyers across the country or send their work to competitions like the Archibald Prize is key to success and survival.
01:10It's really good for artists to enter interstate prizes, to get recognition and to get their art out there.
01:17So Laurie fills that void, I guess, really well.
01:22Laurie says he'll continue moving art until he's saved enough money to buy a home.
01:28But his growing art collection is getting in the way.
01:32I do end up buying a little bit. My accountant said to me, I have to stop doing that or I will never have a house to hang at me.
01:38Which means more time on the road before retirement.
01:43You all do end up buying a little city and a large one of the most?
01:47About the best.
01:48I'll not get into it, but my accountant said to me, but I don't do it.
01:50It will not be because you guys are not getting into it.
Be the first to comment