Self Portraits

From 7 July to 27 August, I'm having a self portrait exhibition at the Maroondah Art Gallery in Ringwood. There will be twenty eight works, paintings, pastel, pencil and charcoal drawings and a sculpture. The exhibition spans the years 1994-2011. As you can see from the invitation, many of the self portraits do not reveal my face. Dr Vivien Gaston will officially open the show on July 14th. I thought I might show you some more examples but of course you should come along and see them in the flesh during the running of the exhibition. 

From left to right - 

Self Portrait, 1994, dry pastel, 73 x 50 cm

Silhouette, 2011, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40.5 cm

Untitled #68, 2000, oil on canvas, 152 x 83.5 cm

Artist Profile, 2011, oil on linen, 41 x 31 cm

Proust Questionnaire

A good friend of mine, author Dmetri Kakmi, invited me to participate in a questionnaire on his blog. It's called Proust Questionnaire, inspired by the same named questionnaire that was in Vanity Fair. Check out Dmetri's blog, CORPORATE CANNIBAL, not only for my answers but for the many thought provoking posts he publishes each week. Here it is http://dmetrik.blogspot.com

Zart Art

Recently I gave a talk about my work at Zart Art in Box Hill North, called Meet The Artist. It's mainly for art teachers and what an enjoyable night it was too. Zart Art certainly looks after their invited artists with great food, wine and company. A night to remember!

O'Henry

This is a trompe l'oeil painting of a trompe l'oeil short story by O'Henry. To summarize his words would give away the ending. It's a beautiful but poignant tale and it can be read at  http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/

The Last Leaf, 2009, oil on MDF, 17 x 11.5 cm

Modern Australian Painting

This Painting, Virtual Light, is in the exhibition MODERN AUSTRALIAN PAINTING at Charles Nodrum Gallery. The exhibition shows works spanning many decades, from a John Peter Russell work of 1887 through to 2010. The dates for this exhibition are 17 March-9 April 2011. Charles Nodrum Gallery is at 267 Church Street Richmond, Melbourne or visit the web at
www.charlesnodrumgallery.com.au

Virtual Light, 2010, oil on linen, 76 x 91 cm

The Art Vault Exhibition at Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery

This painting is in an exhibition at the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery which features works from the Art Vault in Mildura and finishes on 20th March. Some of the artists in the exhibition are Deborah Klein, Rosalind Atkins, Mike Parr, John Catapan, Ex de Medici and Martin King.

The idea of a painting in reverse has been done by a number of artists throughout history. The earliest example is a painting by Cornelius Gijbrechts titled Reversed Painting, 1670, which is at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. Gijbrechts magnificent work was the inspiration for my own version.

Irreversible, 2005, oil on linen, 61 x 50.5 cm

Doll's House painting in progress

Sometimes I make paintings that are three dimensional, and that means the back and sides of the picture get the same attention as the front. The house section is linen, glued onto MDF with rabbit skin glue. The doors are MDF, but they are conected to the house with real hinges, which allows them to open and close. As the images explain, I made a rough model of a doll's house and fitted it with miniature furniture as a guide to painting the picture.

Doll's House, 2007, oil on linen and MDF, 106.5 x 124.75 cm

A painting in progress

Sometimes I'm asked how I paint bubble wrap, so this is an example of how it's done. This painting, Portrait of Deborah, is a reinterpretation of an earlier portrait of my partner Deborah Klein. The outlines of the face from the earlier portrait are traced onto a new canvas and roughly blocked out with colours. Next I rule up lines in pencil to correspond to the spaces between the bubble wrap circles, then I trace around a metal washer the same size as the circles in the bubble wrap. I place the tape where I want. The ruled circles cover the face in the same position as the circles of the real bubble wrap sit over the face of the earlier portrait. At this stage its planned out in ghost form, with the colours inside and around the circles thinly brushed in. Finally I repaint each circle at a time and when I've covered the canvas I let it dry. If needed, I make adjustments by perhaps darkening an area or adding highlights in strategic places. Every circle in the bubble wrap is like an invented small abstract painting simply because it's visually too complicated to follow.

Portrait of Deborah, 2009, oil on linen, 36 x 36 cm

IMPRESSIONS 2010

The Song

From 3 Dec 2010 - 12 Feb 2011, the Australian Print Workshop in Fitzroy has an exhibition called IMPRESSIONS 2010. The exhibition is to celebrate the APW's 30th Anniversary in 2011 and to raise funds for its various projects. Every print is a standard size of 20 x 15 cm with an edition of 10 and 2 Artists Proofs, all donated to the APW by the 129 participating artists. The Director of the APW, Anne Virgo, donated the AP/2 of each work to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. My print, The Song, is a linocut, and my aim was to make an image about the sound of a song rather than a portrait of a singer.

True Fictions installation views

From left to right: Digital Landscape, Digital Light, Entrance and Portrait of Diane

Photograph by Tim Gresham

Entrance

Photograph by Tim Gresham

Installation view by Tim Gresham 

Installation photograph by Tim Gresham

Website

Photograph by Deborah Klein

From left to right: High Definition, Concealed and Missing

Photograph by Tim Gresham

I was amused by the fact that people wanted to open the door and also when the gallery received phone calls to say they made a mistake on their website because some of the paintings were still in their bubble wrap.

Deakin University acquisition

High Definition, pictured above, has been acquired by Deakin University from my current exhibition, True Fictions. It is from a series of paintings depicting the Australian landscape as seen on television - a reference to the indirect way we frequently experience the world around us. I am delighted that my painting will be part of such a great collection.

True Fictions - Opening Night

Diane Soumilas with her portrait

Shane Jones and Rebecca Guest, Manager of Charles Nodrum Gallery

Paul Compton and Leigh Hobbs

Shane Jones and Doug Willis

Judy Holding talking to Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Vince Alessi centre. Vince is Artistic Director of La Trobe University Museum of Art Vic. and he wrote a wonderful catalogue essay for the exhibition titled Do I Really Know...

Patrica Gillard, Paul Compton, Marita Kelly, Chris Cochius and Caitlin 

Donna McCrae, Michael Vale and Tom Alberts

True Fictions - solo exhibtion at Charles Nodrum Gallery

Here is a selection of paintings from my forthcoming exhibition True Fictions at Charles Nodrum Gallery. The exhibition opens on 25 November and will run until 18 December. 

To view the exhibition online click HERE 

CHARLES NODRUM GALLERY

267 Church Street Richmond Victoria 3121

www.charlesnodrumgallery.com.au 

gallery@charlesnodrumgallery.com.au  

Tel - (61 3) 94270140

Images from top: 

Portrait of Diane, 2010, oil on linen, 101 x 76 cm

Portrait of Deborah, 2009, oil on linen, 36 x 36 cm

F for Fake, 2010, oil on MDF, 19 x 13.5 cm

Covered Nude, 2010, oil on linen, 30 x 40.5 cm

Website, 2010, oil on MDF, 28 x 23 x 32.5 cm

Virtual Light, 2010, oil on linen, 76 x 91 cm

High Definition, 2010, oil on canvas, 76 x 91 cm

Recent acquisitions, State Library of Victoria

Recently the State Library of Victoria acquired four of my paintings. One of these, Makybe Diva Winning her Third Melbourne Cup, was curated into the current exhibition Celebrating 150 Years of the Melbourne Cup. The exhibition can be viewed on the 5th level of the SLV. It continues until 31 October 2011.

The remaining acquisitions are self-portraits.

Images from top:

Pictured with Makybe Diva Winning her Third Melbourne Cup at the State Library of Victoria

Makybe Diva Winning her Third Melbourne Cup, 2010, Oil on canvas, 76 x 91 cm

Quodlibet, 2006, Oil on canvas, 122.5 x 81.5 cm

Quodlibet Self-Portrait, 2005, Oil on MDF, 64 x 49 cm

Self-Portrait, 2007, Oil on linen, 45.5 x 35.5 cm

A visit to Robert Hannaford's studio

In October 2010, Robin Rogers, Deborah Klein and I visited Robert Hannaford's studio/gallery in Riverton South Australia. In my opinion Robert (Alf) Hannaford is one of the world's best realist and portrait painters - I've always wanted to meet him. That day he was about to resume a sculpture commission, but he generously found the time to show us around his studio. Pictured here from left: Robin Rogers, Shane Jones and Robert Hannaford.