Tag: abstract art
Robert Klippel: Assembled
Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 Art Column,It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years since Bob Klippel died, and 17 years since his definitive retrospective at the Art Gallery of NSW. At the time it was commonplace to hear Klippel (1920-2001) described as “Australia’s greatest sculptor” – a title that generated a good deal of grumbling and dissent among his peers. […]
Aida Tomescu – Fox Jensen Gallery, Sydney
Thursday, September 26th, 2019 Good Weekend Art Column,Artist: Aida Tomescu Lives: Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. Age: 63 Represented by: Fox Jensen Gallery, Sydney; Fox Jensen McCrory, Auckland (no Melbourne representation) Her thing: Vigorous abstract expressionist canvases with a palette of white and crimson. Our take. Watching the development of Aida Tomescu’s work over the years has been a thrilling experience. With each new […]
Barbara McKay & Hadyn Wilson
Friday, August 9th, 2019 Art Column,In May the National Gallery of Australia launched a campaign called Know My Name, which aims to raise awareness of the work of Australian women artists. Call me a cynic, but when a leading institution takes up the cause of a supposedly neglected minority, one may assume the battle is already over. Historically-speaking there’s no […]
Charlie Sheard: Absolute Abstraction
Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 Art Column,Absolute Abstraction is an uncompromising title for an uncompromising show at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum. So far removed is this event from the laidback norms of Australian painting that it would surely read better in German: Absolute Abstraktion. That hard ‘k’ makes all the difference. Charlie Sheard (b.1960) always knew he wanted to be […]
Newsletter 289
Monday, June 3rd, 2019 Newsletter,Apologies for the lateness of this week’s newsletter. I’ll spare you the fine detail of my week, but it was truly relentless: Melbourne to Yirrkala to Perth to Sydney, culminating in an epic lecture on ‘Women in Australian Cinema’ at the Union, University and Schools Club. Throughout this journey I was writing every day. The […]
Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor
Thursday, May 30th, 2019 Art Column,“Playful” is the word on everyone’s lips as they go around the National Gallery of Victoria’s Alexander Calder survey. Yet for Sandy Rower, the artist’s grandson, who manages the Calder Foundation in New York, the term is completely taboo. Rower argues that to imagine Calder (1898-1976) was “playful” is to completely misjudge his character. Based […]
Tim Maguire – Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne
Saturday, May 11th, 2019 Good Weekend Art Column,Artist: Tim Maguire Lives: Tarn-et-Garonne, Southwest France & Rosebery, Sydney Age: 60 Represented by:Tolarno Galleries Sydney (Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney; Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich) His thing.A dazzling series of one-off abstract digital prints composed by a roll of the dice, along with painting and video. Our take.Tim Maguire has always been keen to experiment with different […]
Bec Juniper – Fox Galleries, Melbourne
Wednesday, March 13th, 2019 Good Weekend Art Column,Artist: Bec Juniper Lives: Hamilton Hill, Fremantle Age:53 Represented by:Fox Galleries (Wagner Contemporary, Sydney; Linton & Kay, Perth) Her thing. Evocative, abstracted aerial landscapes of Western Australia. Our take.Bec Juniper is an artist who stands in the shadow of a more famous parent. Her father, Robert Juniper, was one of the best-known painters in Western Australia, […]
Hassall Collection
Thursday, March 7th, 2019 Art Column,Last week I had occasion to reflect at length on that strange beast, the art collector. The immediate stimulus was a talk at Artspace during a private view of the Michael Hobbs Collection. The late Michael Hobbs was a mainstay of the Sydney art scene for many decades, and his children are honouring his legacy […]
Minimalism.Space.Light.Object.
Thursday, February 14th, 2019 Art Column,Singapore’s National Gallery is in that honeymoon phase the National Gallery of Australia enjoyed in its early days. Inaugural director, Eugene Tan, has encouraged his curators to set the agenda, resulting in a highly original series of exhibitions exploring the art of South-East Asia and its relationship to the rest of the world. The Gallery […]