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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'An unflinching portrait of talent and addiction.
'In 2008 the artist Adam Cullen invited journalist Erik Jensen to stay in his spare room and write his biography.
'What followed were four years of intense honesty and a relationship that became increasingly claustrophobic. At one point Cullen shot Jensen, in part to see how committed he was to the book. At another, he threw Jensen from a speeding motorbike. The book contract Cullen used to convince Jensen to stay with him never existed.
'Acute Misfortune is a riveting account of the life and death of one of Australia's most celebrated artists, the man behind the Archibald Prize-winning portrait of David Wenham. Jensen follows Cullen through drug deals and periods of deep self-reflection, onwards into his court appearance for weapons possession and finally his death in 2012 at the age of forty-six. The story is by turns tender and horrifying: a spare tale of art, sex, drugs and childhood, told at close quarters and without judgement.' (Publication summary)
Adaptations
-
form
y
Acute Misfortune
( dir. Tom Wright
)
Australia
:
Plot Media
Blackheath Film
Arenamedia Pty Ltd
,
2018
12300361
2018
single work
film/TV
'When 19-year-old wunderkind journalist Erik Jensen (now editor of The Saturday Paper) was invited by bad-boy Australian painter Adam Cullen to write his biography, Jensen (Toby Wallace, Romper Stomper) jumped at the chance. Despite a turbulent relationship, the two formed a unique bond that lasted until Cullen’s death in 2012 aged just 46.'
Source: Melbourne International Film Festival, 2018.
Notes
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Dedication: For Nan, who taught me to write.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Portrait of a Flawed Artist Scoops Award
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 November 2015; (p. 31) -
Mellow Cyanide : The Biographer As Truffle Hound
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 365 2014; (p. 27-29)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Review : Acute Misfortune
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 105 2014; (p. 78)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Unveiling the Talent of the Subject and His Author
Outrageous Adam Cullen Well Captured
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11-12 October 2014; (p. 31) The Canberra Times , 11 October 2014; (p. 21) The Age , 11 October 2014; (p. 27)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Declivities and Eminences
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , October 2014;
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography
-
Vivid Details in Artist's Close-Up
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 27-28 September 2014; (p. 19)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Declivities and Eminences
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , October 2014;
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Unveiling the Talent of the Subject and His Author
Outrageous Adam Cullen Well Captured
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11-12 October 2014; (p. 31) The Canberra Times , 11 October 2014; (p. 21) The Age , 11 October 2014; (p. 27)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Review : Acute Misfortune
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 105 2014; (p. 78)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Mellow Cyanide : The Biographer As Truffle Hound
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 365 2014; (p. 27-29)
— Review of Acute Misfortune : The Life and Death of Adam Cullen 2014 single work biography -
Portrait of a Flawed Artist Scoops Award
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 November 2015; (p. 31)