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 

This week’s Work of the Week from Tony Jackson’s exhibition ‘Forest Kaleidoscope’ is ‘Forest Flight’ (no. 23, digital print on portfolio photorag paper, ed of 9, 55 x 82 cm, $550 (unframed) / $750 (framed)).

The photograph expresses Jackson’s love of nature, which provides a continuous source of inspiration for his photographs. The diffused focus allows the viewer to dwell on the essence of the background landscape. The accidental detail of the bird flying through the dense forest injects the image with a sense of movement and vitality.

The exhibition is on view at until Saturday, 23 November 2013. See the complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/tony-jackson.html

This week’s Work of the Week from Norm Borg’s exhibition ‘Zooids’ is ‘Dragon Eye Zoanthid’ (no. 12, glass, 19.5 x 17.0 cm, $470).

As the title of the glass sculpture suggests, Borg’s ‘Dragon Eye Zoanthid’ was inspired by the exquisite deep sea creatures, which populate coral reefs and other marine environments around the world. Their uniquely bright and vibrant colouring is masterfully conveyed by the artist. Zoanthids frequently form colonies, and just like in nature, this ‘Zoanthid’ also comes from a series of three works in the exhibition, which are available for sale individually or as a group at $1,380 (nos 11, 12 and 13).

The exhibition is on view at until Saturday, 23 November 2013. See the complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/norm-borg.html

This week’s Work of the Week from Janette Thompson’s exhibition ‘Birds and Mammals’ is ‘Cat Bird’ (Etching and Aquatint, ed 10/10, $ 150 (unframed) $ 290 (framed)).

This week we are profiling Thompson’s abilities as a graphic artist and printmaker. ‘Cat Bird’ is just one of a number of exquisite etchings and aquatints on view at the gallery. It showcases Thompson’s creative processes as the artist carefully traces precise lines in the plate, and the delicate tonal effects of the aquatint enliven the printed impression.


The exhibition is on view at until Saturday, 23 November 2013. See selected works from the exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/janette-thompson.html

TONY JACKSON

This week’s Work of the Week from Tony Jackson’s exhibition ‘Forest Kaleidoscope’ is ‘Forest Red’ (no. 24, digital print on portfolio photorag paper, ed of 9, 55 x 82 cm, $550 (unframed) / $750 (framed)).

This photograph is distinguished for the vibrancy of its colours, as Jackson captures the clearing in the forest ablaze in the red of the setting sun. The bold contrast between the dark foreground and luminous background evoke the colour palettes of the distinguished Australian artist, Albert Tucker.

View the complete exhibition online at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/tony-jackson.html

JANETTE THOMPSON

This week’s Work of the Week from Janette Thompson’s exhibition ‘Birds and Mammals’ is ‘Numbat Rising’ (no 6, pencil on arches aquarelle, 117 x 79 cm $ 950).

Thompson has perfectly caught in this drawing the marsupial’s kinetic energy as it rises on its hind paws to survey its surrounding with cautious curiosity. Like so many other drawings in the exhibition, ‘Numbat Rising’ also showcases the artist’s most meticulous execution, attention to detail, and an uncanny ability to convey the varied textures, sensations, and natural subtle colour gradations within the animal’s fur.

View selected works from the exhibition online 
at http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/janette-thompson.html

NORM BORG

This week’s Work of the Week from Norm Borg’s exhibition ‘Zooids’ is ‘Mr Curly - Tea’ (no. 17, glass, 35.5 x 12 cm, $ 475).

Together with other works in the exhibition, ‘Mr Curly’ showcases Borg’s ingenuity and dexterity in handling and manipulating the malleable and yet at the same time extremely fragile medium of glass. The subtle tonal gradations within this and other glass sculptures further imbues the pieces in the exhibition with a sensation of weightlessness, elegance, and whimsicality.

View the complete exhibition online at
  http://www.quadrantgallery.com.au/norm-borg.html

We are thrilled to announce the opening of our three new exhibitions - recent paintings and drawings by Janette Thompson; photography by Tony Jackson; and contemporary glass sculpture by Norm Borg.

Janette Thompson is a Melbourne-based artist specialising in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Her current exhibition reflects the artist’s fascination with the local fauna. Most of the drawings are meticulously created with coloured pencils. Complex layering of pigments conveys differing textures of marsupials’ fur, and the colourful plumage of different bird species.  

Tony Jackson is a Melbourne-based painter, photographer, and architect. The current body of work is inspired by his continuous fascination with nature and the environment.Jackson says about this works: “In this series of images I explore the colours, vibrancy and moods. My experience of life informs me that clarity is an elusive state. These images celebrate this aspect and allow the viewer’s own emotions to permeate these forests.”

Norm Borg is an East-Gippsland based glass artist and sculptor, founder and director of Tallon Glass studios in Nungurner. Borg describes his distinct glass art style as “focussing on organic shapes and surface manipulation, using colours and shapes found in natural and manmade environments.” His recent works of bold contemporary shapes and organic forms draw on the patterns and colours abstracted from a fusion of eucalyptus bark and modern architecture.



The exhibitions will be on view until Saturday, 23 November 2013.