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gcdwhite · 8 years ago

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national gallery of australia ★ 2015

in july 2015, i went down to canberra to watch my brother graduate from duntroon, the royal military college. it was so special to us all, my father having graduated from the very same place, however 50 years prior.

i took the opportunity to go to the NGA, where they have some really really cool works in their permanent collection.

jeune sculpteur au travail (young sculptor at work)

Pablo Picasso - 1933

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no words will ever really capture just how much i love henri matisse. the simplicity. how he uses bright colours and fun, flowing forms to create light-hearted, aesthetically pleasing works. they’re so pretty.

i would say he is my biggest artistic influence. i think that is reflected in a lot of my own designs. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

andy warhol’s soup cans. ICONIC

other pieces of their permanent include the 26 paintings from sidney nolan’s ned kelly series, donated to the gallery by john and sunday reed after their passing.

the reeds were key figures in the angry penguin movement in australian art around the 1930s-50s. they bought a lil farm in victoria and artists such as nolan, joy hester, albert tucker, and others, would use their farm as a place to come together over a number of years.

they would later be known for their contribution as a group to australian figurative modernism, and some would later go on to form the antipodeans - taking a stand against new abstract art. the antipodeans can also be known as australian artists who kinda fucked off overseas to make it BIG.

fair tho

a bit of australian history for you.

NOW. my favourite thing at the nga: james turrell’s within without (2010).

turrell is an american artist, who works with light and space to create some of the most etherial experiences i have had. i will go into great depth in due course. i have so much to say

#blog

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gcdwhite · 8 years ago

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sydney contemporary ★ 2015

i have a bit of catching up to do.

i went to the sydney contemporary art fair in 2015.

i took part in a ‘masterclass’, run by the guardian in association with the sydney contemporary art fair, called the a-z of contemporary art. i was lucky enough to be guided around the large array of works by the fair director Barry Keldoulis, leading art consultant Mark Hughes, and Andrew Frost, the guardian’s art critic.

to be guided in such a small group made for an intimate and memorable experience. with such noted figures in the art industry guiding us through the works, outlining particular works which they didn’t necessarily like - but works that sparked something in themselves, for whatever reason, and wanted us to delve further into.

the second part of the masterclass then entailed a discussion and debate about the highlighted works, with Keldoulis, Hughes, Frost and leading gallerist Melissa Loughan.

i saw some really awesome and memorable works that day.

i wish i noted the details for this work. :’(. i’m such a slut for neon lights. but idk who isn’t?

some of ben quilty’s works at the jan murphy showcase. his works are so raw, so confronting, so emotional. the thick application of aerosol + oil on canvas makes his work so recognisable and unique. it is always a pleasure to see his works. i feel honoured (in a way?) to be standing in front of them. he is so so so important in australian art.

here’s a close up. the paint is so t h i c c.

i’m going to digress here a little bit.

i am a huge quilty fan. i bought a book compiling his works from touring afghanistan as an official war artist, a series that will be etched in my memory forever. the way in which he captures the raw emotion of australian soldiers returning from combat - traumatised, exhausted, pained. he told the soldiers to sit how they feel.

the earthy tones complement the abstract nature of his technique - how each element of his body, if separated and looked at individually, isn’t recognisable as being that body part.

but take a step back and it’s a different story. it all makes sense.

quilty’s skill amazes me. the sheer patience he must have. how does he know when a work is finished?

in addition to his art works, what i love about quilty is his social conscious and moral compass. his strong moral drive is evident in his choice of subject matter; he is quite well known for teaching myuran sukumaran how to paint. He also works closely with young refugee artists.

but also the fact that he is he is a normal, young dude. who would get fucked up with his mates. a bit too much sometimes. which is chill, i get that. artworks feel way more personal when i can relate to the artist on a personal level. i strongly implore you (whoever u are) to research further into him. by all accounts, he is a fuckn awesome dude.

anyway, back to sydney contemporary. it was so pivotal.

pivotal in the sense that it was the first time where i felt as though i actually have quite a bit of knowledge about art. i would see works and understand things about them, notice things about them which i hadn’t before i began studying art. i felt this in an even bigger way when i went to new york. but i’ll save that for a rainy day.

whilst in sydney that time round, i went to the art gallery of nsw to check out the archibald portraits. quilty was actually on the board for picking the winning art work in 2015, having won the prize himself in 2011 for his portrait of margaret olley. BLESS.

unfortunately i don’t have many photos from these portraits, only two artworks. but they’re both SICK.

charlie waterstreet by nigel milsom. i don’t know what’s more etherial - the painting itself or the story behind it.

milsom was raised in albury, nsw, and had known the waterstreet family for a number of years. their relationship, however, formalised when waterstreet - who co-created the abc series rake, about a brilliant but self-destructive criminal defence lawyer - represented milsom as his barrister.

milsom was jailed in september 2013 for a robbery incident, whilst under the influence of a number of hard drugs, waterstreet representing him. you can read more about it here if u like. its v interesting.