Billy Bain is a Dharug artist working across ceramic sculpture, painting and installation.
Using humour, autobiography and collaboration to explore the lived experience of being a Dharug man in contemporary Sydney, Billy’s ceramic sculptures, paintings and installations draw on family histories, surfing and everyday life to question how Australian identity is represented and whose stories shape our understanding of place.His solo exhibitions include By the River at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2026) and Being Manly at Manly Art Gallery & Museum (2022). His work has featured in Ever Present and Of This Earth, presented by the National Gallery of Australia, which has also commissioned a new installation for Full Throttle (2026). Billy has also created a public artwork for Western Sydney International Airport and undertaken commissions and collaborations with Apple and Wah-Wah. Alongside his studio practice,
Billy curates exhibitions, including Cruel Summer at Artbank Sydney and You’re Welcome at Verge Gallery. He is a member of the National Gallery of Australia’s First Nations Advisory Group and serves on the board of Firstdraft. Billy has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize (2025), Wynne Prize (2023–2025) and Sulman Prize (2023). His work is held in public and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian National Maritime Museum, Artbank, Western Sydney University and Manly Art Gallery & Museum.