Harry and I braved the Sydney weather last night and headed to the evening session at the NSW art gallery. Harry is my youngest son and the art lover in the family, his appreciation of art is growing steadily but on occasions struggles with the whole concept of “What is art?” (This became evident on a recent trip to the NGA when he got an introduction to the suprematism of Malevich whilst viewing “White on White”. To be honest I don’t think he is the only one to query such movements.
The first thing to catch our eye Victoria Reichelt’s “After ( Books)”- Winner of the Sir John Sulman prize. One of a series of paintings using the juxtaposition of animals within library environments to consider the changing roles of libraries as they adjust to keep up with modern technology. Wandering tentatively within the space , as if they would in a forest, interacting with the space but not feeling at all comfortable, depicting the way that we may also feel about book filled rooms in years to come. As principal of Groth & Sons I shudder to think of such movements away from book- filled rooms; however I do appreciate the power of art to make us think outside the square. Likewise, Abdul Abdullah’s’ “The Man” has made me look at Mundine (the bad guy who talks too much) in a very different light. The thing I love about the Archibald is that it captures a very brief but very specific moment , check out Vincent Fantauzzo’s “ Love Face”,-the People’s Choice winner.
My favourites are John Emmerig’s “Gageler” it’s unconventional and raw and has great contrast, Michael Lindeman’s “Dear Trustees” is humorous and serious at the same time, a very different approach with this conceptual text painting and I also love “Anything goes”, Wendy Sharpe’s portrait of Sydney’s dark princess of burlesque, the all colourful Venus Vamp.
What’s your favourite?
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