Showing at Anna Schwartz Gallery at Carriageworks (Sydney) in a show curated by Jason Smith, is a work by Clement Meadmore (Upstart 1,1967). This is a piece that should demand a visit just to experience the power of art. I have only one quibble. I wish this work was the single work in the cavernous space of the gallery. It has such power and majesty that it could hold the space beautifully....

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Down the Rabbit Hole...

William Kentridge... 

At the Annandale Gallery in Annandale the latest exhibition of the work of William Kentridge has just opened. This show will rate as one of the highlights of the current year. [Read my blog...]

History Painting (after Gericault) 2011
Enamel on Banana box Cardboard 130.5 x 18cm 

Banana Republic
by Jebila Wolfe-Okonguw
at Gallery Barry Keldoulis

"Alan" - Bernie Slater
Looming over the interior spaces of the powerhouse was Bernie Slater's giant billboard depicting "Alan" (Jones) Sydney's Shock Jock Radio Host on 2GB.

There was a crackle about the sound this one was making. Actually it had no sound element, but the red scribbles radiating from its upper torso were squawking like broken radio waves sending out gobble-de-gook into the ether.

It was such a strong work that I felt the need to block my ears while looking at it. So there was this lovely dynamic between caroline's soundless massive presence and this senseless babble...

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Peter Cooley at Martin Browne Gallery

I have been a fan of Peter Cooley's work for a long long time. He has been a wonderful painter and there has been a long history of ceramic work too, but in more recent years he has been concentrating on ceramic works. And now, opening at Martin Browne Gallery on Thursday 2nd February at 6pm is a show that will prove to be a knockout.

In his latest body of work Peter has really pushed into territory that will delight and surprise. So just when you think you have a handle on what he might be capable of, he is able to find a new ceramic sculptural language.

Without a shadow of a doubt this exhibition will be a delight and contain wonders to behold. Don't miss it. The show continues until 26th Feb...

See more and read my blog...

Peter Drewett 
Pyrography 

Drawn to the Line 

There is a commonly held view that drawing is something one does with a pencil on a sheet of paper. And most of us can remember that sense of envy at the primary school friend who could draw. (That translated as an ability to render the 3D world in 2D...as if it were 3D: lifelike was the term often used; or being able to draw like an Angel. I would ask, why ever would one need a pencil and paper in heaven, and where might one go to see samples of the drawings of said Angels. I can only surmise that the fallen Angels must have lost whatever it was they had in the change of venues. Enough.)

In approaching this selection of works drawn from my collection I have been thinking about the word 'drawing': both as a verb and as a noun. This has enabled me to select from a large range of works as I think this show will demonstrate and will have the viewer rethinking what it is to draw (verb) and what is a drawing (noun). The many varied uses of the mediums used to execute a drawing will show the rich and diverse practice of artists in this most elemental of endeavors.

There was a period when the artist was seen at his/her most rigorously intellectual when presenting those first most intimate and confessional marks. Today there is no such hierarchy and artists are not intimidated by either the end product or the reason why they might be engaged in what they think of as drawing.

My collection has been evolving over a period of about 30 years, and if there has been an overarching strategy or aesthetic in play then I think it would be found in the ascendancy on the heart over the mind. I have been drawn to what might be called the rough, the uncooked, the childlike. It was Picasso who said that all his life he had been trying to find the way to be able to “draw like a child”. I understand the expression 'it could have been done by a child' as the highest praise.

I ask that visitors to this exhibition look first and then start to think what it is about the work that might cause it to be considered as a drawing. And can that noun/verb paradox be bought into play in looking and thinking about the works here.

Here are some rather pithy definitions about drawing:

“There is no way to make a drawing – there is only drawing.” - Richard Serra

“Collage is drawing with scissors.” - Matisse

“The hand of a great master at real work is never free; its swiftest dash is under perfect government.” - John Ruskin

“One must always draw, draw with the eyes....” - Balthus

“I never draw, except with paint and brush.” - Monet

“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing.” Picasso

“If you can't draw something, just draw it.” - Dieter Rot

“it is not bright colours but good drawing that makes figures beautiful.” - Titian

Weave Art Centre
Arterial Rozelle
Cross Art Projects
Sarah Cottier
Damien Minton
The White Rabbit
The MCA
Gallery 9
Darren Knight
Art Gallery of NSW
Goulburn RAG
More Galleries...

weaveartscentre.org.au
artereal.com.au
crossart.com.au
sarahcottiergallery.com
damienmintongallery.com.au
whiterabbitcollection.org 
mca.com.au
gallery9.com.au
darrenknightgallery.com
artgallery.nsw.gov.au
goulburn.nsw.gov.au