Garry Darby’s career in art spans four decades. He studied painting and drawing at East Sydney Technical College followed by private tuition with noted Sydney abstract painters Tom Gleghorn and Stanislaus Rapotec. In 1980 Garry's first book, William Buelow Gould, Convict Artist of Van Diemen's Land, was published in Sydney. That was accompanied by an acclaimed exhibition of Gould's work which toured Australia in 1981. University Study: Between 1981 and 1984 Garry completed a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) at the University of New England and the University of Sydney, majoring in Fine Arts.He spent time in Italy studying the art of the Italian Renaissance. Garry was awarded the degree of Master of Arts (Honours) at the University of Sydney in 1989 and a PhD in Fine Arts in 1996. While undertaking further study, Garry lectured to undergraduates at the University of Western Sydney, the University of NSW and the University of Sydney. During the bicentennial year he worked as an historian for the Historic Records Search. In 1989 he initiated the Sydney Talks and Tours which remain unique in. He lectures regularly in adult education in numerous universities and institutions.
In recent years he has led a groups of devoted students on flying tours of Arnhemland and Central Australia to investigate Aboriginal art in far-flung places such as Elcho Island and the country west of Alice Springs. The flying tours initiated in 1994, have grown in popularity as interested people recognise the benefits of travelling with an expert in the field. Some of the communities visited include, Yuendumu, Balgo Hills, Utopia and Fitzroy Crossing. He has also chaired important seminars on Australian and European art, judged regional art competitions and appeared on radio ( a regular on 2BL 'Afternoon Show') and ABC Television. The last few years have seen Garry as a lecturer at the Art Gallery of NSW, delivering lectures on Turner and 19th century Romanticism.Mosman Evening College and the WEA in Sydney are other lecture venues. Garry was featured in the ABC documentary on Aboriginal art, "Looking for Johnny W". During September 1999, he was part of a group which staged an important Aboriginal Art exhibition at the United Nations Building, New York. Four lectures and numerous floor talks were delivered to exhibition visitors. Painters Janet Long Nakamarra and Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi accompanied the exhibition.During October-November 1999 Garry led a highly successful "Colonial Art and Architecture Tour" through Tasmania for the Continuing Education section of the University of Sydney. Since 2000 Garry has been a guest lecturer aboard the "Coral Princess" which cruises the Kimberley coast in Western Australia for Aurora Expeditions. During these voyages Garry lectures on Aboriginal art and also takes shore parties each day to examine Wandjina and Bradshaw paintings in the caves along this pristine coast.During the past ten years he has become a recognised expert in those areas of Aboriginal art and has exhibited Wandjina art at the Macquarie University. This show, featuring Donny Woollagoodja, came about because of Garry’s close connection with the Kimberley area and its art. He is well known now as a guest lecturer aboard the “Coral Princess”, the vessel which carries expeditioners along the Kimberley coast. These tours are led by Mike Cusack, the noted Victorian bushman. Garry has worked with Mike for the past eight years now.
 During 2005 Garry was guest lecturer in Alice Springs for a visiting delegation of tourist writers and academics from America. Then in September 2006 he undertook a lecture tour of the United Kingdom and Belgium. Lectures on Aboriginal desert art were presented in London, Bath, Carnarvon, Ledbury, Glasgow and Brussels. This tour was an immediate success and was repeated in September 2007 with lectures being given in Bath, London, Kent and Cambridge. Other continuing work includes lectures to the graphic arts students at Sydney Graphics College, Broadway. For the past six years he has lectured to visiting students from Wisconsin University in the USA. Both of these series continue in 2007.Mary Place Gallery in Paddington was the site for a hugely successful exhibition of work from the Warmun community in May 2006. Garry acted as the Sydney contact for this WA community of painters. A similar successful exhibition was staged by Garry in May 2007.Philosophy: His philosophy on art and art appreciation now is to demystify and simplify much that surrounds painting, sculpture and photography. With each of his talks and tours Garry has two objectives: to inform and to entertain. This down-to-earth approach has been widely appreciated by audiences.With Aboriginal art it has become clear that this is Australia's most significant art movement ever and it seems entirely appropriate to Garry that more and more study, writing and touring should unfold.
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