About

Rory OBrien is a Sydney figurative painter working in oils, acrylics and watercolours. Rory also has a background in photography and printmaking.

Recent works in both watercolour and oil have focussed on the ocean, sunshine and swimmers in the landscape. Currently he is working on impasto oil paintings looking at light, reflections and distortions on swimmers in summer pools.

Rory has won two recent art prizes - First Place in Maritime/Seascape Painting at the Royal Agricultural Society Arts and Crafts Show and the Northern Beaches Gallery Summer Art Prize. As part of this prize Rory will be showing at Northern Beaches Gallery in September 2025.

Rory exhibits in Sydney regularly, including organising and curating a yearly exhibition at M2 Gallery in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

These shows include Fusion (2025), Leap (2024), Elemental (2023) a joint show called 'Contours/Currents' (2022) with painter Karen Michaels. Other recent shows include a pop-up show called 'Hot dogs' with Traffic Jam galleries in January 2022 and a solo show of watercolours, oils and acrylics called 'Released' in November 2021.

Rory has been a regular exhibitor at The Other Art Fair in Sydney (2023, 2022, 2021, 2019) and Melbourne (2018). Rory also runs the “Collect Art” collective which will show at Sydney’s Affordable Art Fair in November 2025.

Rory has been exhibiting his artwork since 1992, has had many solo shows of his paintings, printmaking and photography and received a Bachelor of Art (Visual Art) from Sydney's City Art Institute (now UNSW Art, Design and Architecture).

Rory posts regularly on Instagram as @roryobrienart. You will also find some of these works showcased on Saatchi Art and on Blue Thumb online art platforms.

Please get in touch below if you are interested in any pictures or have ideas for collaborations and commissions.