Exhibition Highlight of the Week as chosen by Eugene Barilo von Reisberg, Consultant, Quadrant Gallery

Mary RAPHAEL, Deep Outback - Salt Lake Track (no 4, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 cm, $ 550)

Mary Raphael’s exhibition of Australian outback landscapes breaks the traditional mould inasmuch as alongside the paintings carried out in the time-honoured red and ochre pigments, Raphael includes a series of works which convey the surprisingly infinite variety of colours revealed by the desert to an inquisitive, inveterate, and observant traveller.

In this sense, the colour palette of Salt Lake Tracks (no 4) injects a new interpretation into the theme of the Australian outback. The painting is filled with grey silvery mists and vaporous pastel tonalities. Delicate brushstrokes of vermillion, turquoise, and lavender graze across the painted surface creating a rhythmic and pulsating environment of shimmering reflections and evanescent vistas. The complex layering of pigments conveys the textured surface of the rugged terrain. The low horizon line injects the painting with the feeling of pathos and majesty experienced within the unfathomable expanse of the Australian outback. 

Jane WILSON, In the Moment – Deirdre (no 43, water soluble oils on canvas, framed, 93 x 63 cm, $ 1,090)

Similarly to Mary Raphael, Jane Wilson utilises richly textured surfaces, but to a totally different end. The breadth and variety of her painterly techniques is abundantly displayed in Deirdre (no 43). The painting is brought into a sharp focus on the right hand side of the composition from whence a child stares at the viewer with an innocent and yet knowingly inquisitive gaze. The smooth layers of thick pigments perfectly convey the tints and textures of the skin; while the scuffling and scraping of paint layers around the girls face are perfectly adapted to conveying the texture and various tints of sun-bleached hair. The near-photo-realistic quality of the girl’s head profiles Wilson’s superior abilities as an accomplished portrait painter.

The photo-realistic perfection of the right-hand-side of the composition is boldly contrasted against the abstracted bouquet of flowers on the left hand side and the overall indeterminate background of rich purples with the underlying flashes of greens and deep blues. The stylistic dichotomy and the close cropping of the child’s head imbue the painting with the feeling of movement and restless spontaneity. 

Eva MILLER, Configuration - Mother and Child (no 31, acrylic on paper, framed, 63 x 85 cm, $ 650)

Eva Miller’s works inhabit the world of post-Fauvist constructivism, where shapes and colours are fused together in a perpetual rhythmic dance of patterned undulations. In Mother and Child (no 31), Miller boldly limits her colour scheme to the tonal varieties of reds, greens, and yellows that range from the lurid octaves of light to the Cimmerian darkness of shade. The individual brilliance of separate colours is accentuated by the surrounding structural outlines of darker pigments, which imbue the work with the luminous quality of exquisite stained glass windows.

The exhibitions are current until Saturday, 3 May 2014.

View complete exhibitions online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/   

John Ancher “Insight and Sprawl”: Exhibition Highlight of the Week as chosen by Eugene Barilo von Reisberg, Consultant, Quadrant Gallery

Geometry of Hope 2 (no 24, 2012, acrylic on paper, 35 x 50 cm, $ 900)

John Ancher’s Geometry of Hope 2, from the Sprawl series, takes its cue from the Australian modernist landscape tradition. The artist creates a new visual vocabulary to depict the changing face of Australian terrain. The unpredictable, undulating lines of the natural landscape have been altered. Trees, boulders, and ravines are now replaced with the geometry of streetscapes, rooftops, and fence lines. Even the mountain ridge no longer appears wild and jagged, but smoothed out and tamed. The bold juxtaposition of reds and greens, strategically punctuated by dark patches of blue, creates a rhythmic and pulsating procession of colours, enlivened by richly textured surfaces of thickly applied acrylic medium.

The exhibition is current until Saturday, 1 March 2014.

View complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/john-ancher.html

John Ancher “Insight and Sprawl”: Exhibition Highlight of the Week, as chosen by Tony Jackson, Director, Quadrant Design Architects

Geometric Procession 1 (no 16, 2013, acrylic on paper, 70.5 x 100 cm, $ 3,250)

Tony Jackson says of this painting: “I am drawn to this work because of the sense of movement and energy contained within it. Forms and colour are linked in a very dynamic way. To me, forms represent emotions and a strong statement about our built environment. Forms and colour show me love, harmony, displacement, alienation, and hierarchy. Ancher’s colours are capable of igniting neuronal paths and bring forth strong emotional associations. One can dwell indefinitely on the artist’s bold brushstrokes and complex layering of paint. Every subsequent encounter with the artwork is bound to uncover bold nuances and fresh insights.”

The exhibition is current until Saturday, 1 March 2014.

View complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/john-ancher.html

Numerous friends of the gallery gathered on Thursday night, 6 February 2014, to celebrate the opening of the first ever Melbourne exhibition of recent paintings and works on paper by the renowned Tasmanian artist, John Ancher. The exhibition was officially opened by Marco Luccio, who also shared his insights into the artworks on display. 

Dear Friends, 

A reminder that our new exhibition, "Insight and Sprawl"", recent paintings and drawings by the renowned Tasmanian artist, John Ancher, is opening tomorrow night from 6pm to 8pm.


John says about the works in this exhibition: "The paintings in Insight and Sprawl seek to proclaim a personal imagery. Colour is used to engage emotional attachment. Symbolism and focused abstraction contribute a syntax to the visual language. Answers are not offered, only hints of possibility.

"INSIGHT presents mindscapes. The Greek Cross is always a starting point. By eroding the geometric certainty attached to this emblem of civilised thought and attainment, the paintings explore abstract ideas such as subterfuge, anguish, and discovery.

"SPRAWL presents landscapes. The cellular nature of our living environment is reflected upon in paintings that suggest the entrapement of those who dwell there. The regimented landscape imposed on the natural world conceals private ambition behind the mask of decency."

The artist will be present at the opening. The exhibition will be officially launched by Marco Luccio. 

Hope to see you all there!

Exhibition Highlights of the Week #5: 

As selected by Eugene Barilo von Reisberg, Consultant, Quadrant Gallery.

Matthew WATTS, “Suntrap 2” (no 14, mixed media on paper, $320)

Eugene’s first choice as the Exhibition Highlight of the Week is “Suntrap 2” by Matthew Watts: “In the exhibition dominated by figuration, Matthew’s works naturally stand out. While I cannot be certain of Matthew’s influences, the work appeals to me because of its oblique references to Russian Constructivism and pronounced echoes of the Australian early modernist artist, Frank Hinder. It is also one of those works in the exhibition that really needs to be examined closely and in great detail, for only thusly one can truly appreciate and admire the complexity of Matthew’s drawing technique and the rich textural quality of his surfaces.”

Sue TOP, Fitting Together (no 4, collograph print, $220)

Eugene has chosen next Sue Top’s “Fitting Together”: “In a similar way to Watts’s work, Top’s collagraph prints stand out in the exhibition due to their uniqueness of subject matter and approach. It is an image that once repulses and intrigues. Sue has captured the viscerality of science and biology; the universe of dissections, test tubes, Petri dishes, and tissue samples squashed between miniature glass plates. If you wish, the most intimate, the most naked portrait of self that one can imagine. But at the same time she has created images of great beauty; of elegant colour gradations and subtle tonal variations; of compositional balance and rhythmic movement that pulsates and reverberates throughout her enigmatically imaginative works.” 

Julie CHIFFEY, “Bay of Fires 2, Tasmania” (no 108, acrylic on canvas, $370)

Eugene’s final choice for the Highlight of the Week is Julie Chiffey’s “Bay of Fires 2, Tasmania”: “The Summer Exhibition is truly remarkable for the sheer number of landscapes contained within, which showcases both the importance of Australian landscape as a continuous source of inspiration for Australian artists and the aesthetic diversity of approaches to this subject matter by the exhibiting artists. I find myself drawn to Chiffey’s painting because it conveys, almost in a Cézanne-esque manner, not only what the landscape looks like but also what individual objects within the landscape feel like. One can almost sense the full weight of those huge, grey, cold granite boulders in the middle ground of the composition. The clear definition of the shapes and colour blocking within Chiffey’s paintings places her works within the context of the Australian modernist tradition and display echoes of Fred Williams and Michael Shannon.”

The exhibition is current until Saturday, 1 February.

View complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/summer-exhibition.html 

Exhibition Highlights of the Week #4 – as selected by Tony Jackson, Director, Quadrant Design Architects.

Jerry GALEA, “Untitled” (no 1, photography and mixed media on paper, $500)

Tony Jackson’s first choice for the Exhibition Highlight of the Week is “Untitled”, by Jerry Galea, professional photographer and freelance photojournalist for leading national and international periodicals. “I am drawn to this image because it conjures up the feeling of a hot summer night, when the last light of the dusk creates its own shapes and shadows, and immerses the landscape in meditative and contemplative mood. It is an image that is at once laconically simple and compositionally complex; tonally subtle yet texturally rich.” 

Ross MILLER, “The Boat – La Barca” (no 121, bronze sculpture, $1,000)

Tony has also singled out “The Boat – La Barca”, by the sculptor Ross Miller. “This is a delightful scene embodied in a minimalist and compressed way. It really captures in my opinion the romance of Venice and the summery feel of lazy afternoons by the canal. The verdigris patination of the bronze sculpture conveys something of that all-pervading aroma of the famous canals, lagoons, and innumerable waterways. The elevated platform of the sculpture suggests a setting for a drama; its descending steps create an illusion, a nexus to the underworld.”

Jane WILSON, “From the Verandah” (no 88, water-soluble oils, $550)

Tony Jackson’s third Exhibition Highlight of the Week is “From the Veranda”, by Jane Wilson. “The simplicity and originality of the composition, its unusual cropping, the artist’s skills, and surface textures are delightful in this picture. It truly captures how the crows – or in this case butcher birds – love hanging out in the field with that inimitable attitude. I readily respond to the way in which Wilson depicts the birds. There is always that mixture of humour and menace that makes you wonder just what are they thinking about when they stare at you. I feel that that clump of trees in the background is a haven that the birds might need, for they are not as tough as they would like to appear, and will retreat into the trees then time comes.”

 The exhibition is current until Saturday, 1 February.

View complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/summer-exhibition.html 

Exhibition Highlights of the Week #3 –

as selected by Cresina Tillman, 
Interior Design Specialist, Quadrant Design Architects.

Marian QUIGLEY, “Buttock Blues” (no 28, acrylic on canvas, $300)

Cresina’s first choice for the Exhibition Highlights of the Week is “Buttock Blues”, by Marian Quigley, the multi-award winning artist based in the Bass Coast region of Victoria. The painting is a joyous celebration of colour, movement, and free-flowing forms. “I really enjoy the sense of design within this work, and admire the artist’s ability to combine the flowing lines, the bright colours, and the inspiration from nature and the human body in one harmonious composition,” says Cresina of the painting. 

Otto BORON, “Catch!” (no 52, oil on canvas, $980)

Cresina has also singled out “The Catch!”, by the Italian-born, Melbourne-based, award-wining artist Otto Boron, whose works were profiled on ABC’s Art Nation television program in 2010. The painting is one of the many works in the exhibition featuring birds and animals within a landscape setting. “This little work is remarkable for the layers upon layers of pigments which result in a richly textured surface of the painting. Yet in spite of its textural complexity the image remains sharp and precise; all elements within the composition are sharply defined,” comments Cresina.

Jane HENRY, “The Last Three” (no 71, basketry, stitched pine needles, antique bottle necks, $250)

Cresina’s third Exhibition Highlight of the Week is “The Last Three”, by Jane Henry, a member of the highly esteemed Basketmakers of Victoria group, whose works are richly represented throughout the Summer Exhibition. Henry’s pieces utilise a variety of natural and found media, including antique ceramic bottle necks. “I enjoy the overall sense of design within these works. The usage of diverse materials creates highly textured, intricate, and complex patterns. The implementation of recycled materials is also quite ingenious,” remarks Cresina.

 

View complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/summer-exhibition.html 

All works in the exhibition are available for sale and immediate pick-up - a perfect and unique gift for Christmas!

Exhibition Highlights of the Week #2 - 

as chosen by Imke Beutmann, Senior Architect, 
Quadrant Design Architects.

Simon NOWICKI, “Mussel Man (Ortigia, Sicily)” (no 8, Digital Type C Print, $380)

Imke’s first choice for the Exhibition Highlight of the Week is “Mussel Man (Ortigia, Sicily)”, by the respected Melbourne-based photographer Simon Nowicki. It depicts a mussel gatherer partially submerged under water, which abstracts his lower torso and legs. “This is a very striking and iconic image,” says Imke of the photograph. “Nowicki’s camera turns the simple fisherman into a mythical-looking sea creature, like a modern-day Poseidon, ruler of the seas.” 

Judy PERFECT, “Innocent as a Lamb”, (no 111, Watercolour, $400)

Judy Perfect’s “Innocent as a Lamb” also caught Imke’s eye as an Exhibition Highlight of the Week. This is one of the four watercolours in the exhibition by the artist featuring birds and animals. “What I admire most about this work is Judy’s technical abilities,” comments Imke. “The work is very minimal, as the artist applied diluted pigments in very thin layers. Yet the image of the baby lamb is immediately recognisable, and she has also caught something of its character.”

Maria BARBARO, “Beach Babes 2”, (no 81, acrylic on linen, $495)

Imke’s third Highlight of the Week is “Beach Babes II”, by the Melbourne-based award-winning artist Maria Barbaro. Maria’s selection of works in the exhibition highlights the diversity of her artistic practice and includes paintings as well as limited edition linocuts. “Beach Babes II” is also one of the numerous paintings, watercolours, and photographs in the exhibition featuring the beach, reflecting Australia’s love affair with ‘surf and sun’. “Barbaro has really caught the atmosphere and the diffused effects of sunlight in this painting,” observes Imke. “I also enjoy her sharp and tongue-in-cheek observation of the women. Some are fully covered up, others are sunburnt, and some had lowered their bathing suit straps as one would do to avoid tan lines.”

View complete exhibition online at  http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/summer-exhibition.html 

All works in the exhibition are available for sale and immediate pick-up - a perfect and unique gift for Christmas!