Idris Murphy, “I and Thou”, plus Southerly Buster

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery (Sutherland Shire Council, Gymea)

The opening of the survey show for this landscape artist last Friday night attracted the glitterati – well, the older patrons/friends and volunteers of the Gallery, Damien Minton (Gallery Owner), Randi Linnegar (King St Gallery Director and Idris’ dealer); Celia Gullett (artist, Tim Olsen Gallery and personal friend), Terry O’Donnell (also ex teacher COFA and East Sydney Tech), Annette Tzavaras (Art theorist, Fundraiser extraordinaire and seemingly everywhere I go) and Alison, another friend, who, I discovered, owns 23 of Idris’ paintings due to the fact that he is the godfather of her children! Ah Hem… well, we thought we were special, anyway (especially after a few wines and Idris signed our catalogues).

But the point is, this artist is well respected by many artists in the Sydney community, and recognition, though late in life, is coming thick and fast and, to my mind, not a moment too soon. He is a wonderful colourist, who combines colours even other colourists would never think of using, but somehow it works.
But here’s a warning -for non-artists, his work takes a bit of getting used to. His paintings are naive in execution –or “cacky handed” as I think John McDonald said – and he draws trees in a manner of a third grade school kid. However, on longer viewing, these seemingly simple paintings reveal a nuanced touch; a hardly decipherable composition where perspectives shift and the landscape is flattened; a skilled observation diluted to its simplest and most direct execution, and, importantly, evoke a sense of place and time of day. Stand in the gallery and cast your eye quickly over the whole show and I defy you not to be uplifted by the riot of colour and to discern an artists’ personal language somewhere between an indigenous rendering and European perception of a rather alien land.
An added bonus to the show is a rather excellent and even formidable exhibition of work from artists of note (mostly young) with connections to the “Shire” called “Southerly Buster”. Silke Raetz work is my favourite and a recent discovery for me, but all are excellent.

If you aren’t familiar with Idris’ work, then I encourage you to visit this show and be thoroughly out of your comfort zone. If you are familiar with it, enjoy the ride. Both exhibitions on till 4th October

Silke Raetze, Tender Trap (afetr Cupid) 2009, Oil on canvas with stitched canvas pieces, Courtesy the artist and Michael Reid Gallery
Images: Idris Murphy, Weipa Harbour, Storm Clouds 2005, Acrylic and collage on board, 120 x 120cm

John Peart, “Mainly Painting”

Went to visit the almost renovated, and thankfully quieter Watters Gallery to see this show by this well respected and prolific former teacher of mine. There were a number of unexpected treasures here, the most obvious being “E camaldulensis”, a wall sculpture made by this painter from the twigs/branches of the same name, intertwined in a grid formation that presents the basis of John’s investigations over the last couple of shows. The structure throws pleasant shadows on the wall and intrigues the eye with the play between real and ephemeral; and rough tactility of the materials opposing the geometric, linear nature of the final structure.

Frankly, besides loving the work, I was jealous because I had thought of doing a sculpture in found branches for my upcoming show, "Trees for my Father", and now it will look like I copied him. Damn!

As for the rest of the show, there is a surprising variety coming from works more closely related to this sculpture in their rawness (such as “Lattice”, “ShadowGrille” and the collages) combined with more finished, but still related works - all line, grid and experimental process – such as Ground Formations, the “Panel” paintings and Harvey’s shields. Through it all, it’s obvious that John is playing with chance -the multiple possibilities of his arrangements of squares in the “Grid” pictures; the varied drip, brush, line and colour work apparently laid at random; and the layering process, which leaves some elements to show through whilst others are coloured, attest to this.

Here is the work of an artist in control of his medium and process, and the painting, “Gradeground 1” is a ripper! (Geoffrey Legge, the co-Director of Watters quietly told me this one painting would knock Pollock’s “Blue Poles” out of the gallery if placed beside it). For my money, “Ground Formations” was close on its heels.

However, as I often find with John’s shows, a little more editing would work wonders in my opinion. Some paintings tend towards the muddy (“Grey Grid”) or uncomfortable/ugly colour combinations (“Tetrad 5”) and one of the Panel Paintings (I think it was 5) just didn’t work – it looked simply messy to me, and my eye kept going to one area that had red in it and being left stranded there. The collages are all pretty good and excellent value for an artist of this standing.

John Peart, Watters Gallery 11^th Aug to 5^th September

Image: John Peart, “E Camaldulensis”, 2009 Red gum wood, 122 x 244 x 15cm

Alan Jones "Crime and Punishment" Legge Gallery

Went to the opening of this really good show by my friend Alan, in the salubrious (not) suburb of Redfern ....(even better that the parking fairy was with me coz I parked virtually outside the gallery!) I haven't been to an opening at Legge before and was pleasantly surprised by the space and lighting (I seem to remember that it was smaller at my last visit??)

Anyway, I enjoyed Alan's work immensely, and admire that he is brave enough to think of a concept and go for it, adjusting the execution according to the needs of the subject rather than his "known" style. This show extends his previous exploration of the immediate family (memorable painting of his brother etc having first brought him to my attention, before meeting him some 5 years later) to that of his convict ancestor, Robert, who was tried and on death row for the murder of a local aborigine. He received a reprieve at the last minute, and we're glad he did (otherwise the gorgeous Alan wouldn't be here!)

The portraits of Robert, the aborigine (complete with scratches-he was apparently dragged through a fire and then killed) and sundry other main characters in this saga were sculpted in charicature, made of material and placed on backing boards, rather like hunting trophies, lined with representations of wallpaper (either available in the time of the incident or reminiscent of those in the family home Alan Grew up in).

A large, ripper of a painting shows Robert the convict flattened against a realistically depicted River scape, which refers to the land that he later settled at Windsor. I love the way Alan has let go with the paint - thick, luscious white strokes, probably placed in part by fingers, with dobs of blue representing convict attire, and exploding with grey lines of tubed paint in a halo around him. These lines carry through to the other paintings in the show, which are a departure for Alan, being rather geometric, executed in line only and, consequently, apparently abstract.

At first I couldn't see the connection to the Exhibition title and other work, until I stood back and realised the pattern made the words "I hate today" and "Death Tomorrow" (obviously projecting Robert's thoughts). These thoughts are also written in chalk on large blackboards, framed identically forming panels which include the Union Jack and a number of intriguingly repeated muscats (the murder weapon?). Again, it was great to see an artist so obviuosly enjoying paint, communicating well with his audience, and having heaps of fun (and I don't mean with the wine, which he rarely touches!)

If you haven't ventured to Redfern, take the trip - this show is really worth seeing. On until August 15

Exhibition: John Bokor King St Gallery on William

I admit I have been a fan of this artist since his first exhibition with King St in 2005. In this exhibition, his third with King St and first since moving to the small south coast town of Bulli in NSW, the artist has combined his signature still lifes with vistas seen from his new abode. These landscapes crash in on the interiors, are painted as if meeting the objects in the room, creating shifts of space and perspective across the picture plane that lift the subject matter - the every day clatter of domesticity in a busy family - to a far more intriguing level. Bokor can really paint. He uses wet on wet techniques, scratching, rag removal, thin on thick passages and vice versa, among others. His style is obviously influenced by Elisabeth Cummings, a teacher of his, but he has managed to extract a darker, claustrophobic atmosphere in his work, whereas Elisabeth's are always so full of light and expansive space. He achieves this partly through his choice of colours - usually dark and broody - browns, greys, blues, purples, greens - and partly through the irregular edges of items butting and pushing against each other. His mapping or patterning of the picture plane with variously sized rectangles across the surface adds another dimension - an almost second surface to the painting.

My only criticisms of the work relate to colour (being a colourist myself) and the close association of a student's work with his teacher's (ie I question the individual voice - but he's young (37) and there's time to further develop). I am not sure that Bokor is in control of his colour - some of the paintings juxtapose hues which truly clash - and not as a method to enhance the atmosphere (at least as far as I can see). However, when his colour choices work (and that is in at least two thirds of the paintings) these paintings are very satisfying and show a deft hand.

What I most love about this exhibition is that it shows the hands and the thoughts of a true painter. I am getting so sick of seeing slick, finished-within-an-inch-of-its-life, paintings which follow photographs closely (and add nothing: no atmosphere, no thought etc) or are fully thought out on a computer first and then "copied" into paint. The "I don't have to look at the painting to wonder about it, it's just furniture" type of work.

So - go look at the show - it's well worth the visit. Till June 25

Image: John Bokor, Coffee Table, 2009 , Oil on Board.

art Exhibition Sydney

Hi I have been selected for an exhibition of paintings all 30 x 40cm held at United Galleries in Sydney (Palmer St, Darlinghurst). About 30 artists have one or two pieces in the shop, so it's a snapshot of painting across Australia (artists from at least 4 states involved). Starts Friday June 5 till July 11). Let me know how you think the exhibition looked and whether you liked my paintings!