Hulda Guzman - A Unique Self-portrait

For me, one of the highlights of the recent Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria was the painting “Daily Ceremony, 2022” produced by Hulda Guzman, an artist of the Dominican Republic.  It’s one of the most inventive self portraits I’ve seen in recent times and includes her pet rooster and prancing cats.  In the NGV magazine, she describes the work as an autobiographical narrative, depicting a ritualistic summoning of creative energy.   

The setting is a new studio she designed with her father in a very remote area in the Dominican Republic where her nearest neighbour is at least 2 kilometres away.  She claims to have been inspired by the themes and ideas of the surrealists, but she does not reference dreams and other states of consciousness in her work.  Instead, she is more interested in the “hidden parts of ourselves - all those energies that come into play, the things that are not perceivable to our senses, such as our fears and demons that we try to repress.”

Daily Ceremony 2022, Hulda Guzman, synthetic polymer paint and gouche on cedar & mahogany, 140.6 x 122 cm

The triangles of light, the prancing cats and the symmetry are intended to invoke the cheerfulness, buoyancy, high vibration and celebration of creative energy and the uplifting energies of nature and consciousness. 

Guzman tells us that the dance session becomes a meditative practice to seek peace and to channel the inspiring Taino spirit, which appears as an outline in the triangle of light.  This spirit is a central concept in art and ritual to the Caribbean peoples, and was thought to inhabit trees, stones and other aspects of the landscape.

She also explains the importance of being in the right headspace when producing her work.  “When I’m painting and experiencing positive vibrations, I believe these vibrations transfer into the painting and the viewer afterwards.”  The feedback she gets from viewers of her work correspond to how she feels when painting.  “It’s a beautiful thing, and it makes me relate to people that way.  I would never want to transfer any negative emotions, so I always make sure I’m in the right headspace when I paint.” 

When I think of the headspace I often find myself in when painting, it’s a wonder I can produce anything at all, let alone being able to mount exhibitions and sell my work.  But this article and Guzman’s work gives me cause for thought and to perhaps be more appreciative of the creative spirit that, I believe, lurks within all of us. 

Hulda Guzman’s paintings  often depict tropical settings and naturalistic motifs.  She has two sisters, one a sculptor and the other a filmmaker.  “Daily Ceremony 2022” has been purchased by the NGV. 

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The year 2024 is fast becoming the year of the female artist, judging by what I’ve seen so far.  At Geelong Gallery there is an enormous print exhibition staged by Dianne Fogwell.  It consists of 56 hand printed panels featuring linocuts, woodcuts, burn drawings and pigmented ink on paper. It runs until 28th July.

Dianne Fogwell at Geelong Gallery

At Niagara Gallery in Melbourne recently, there was the exhibition “Lifting The Veil” consisting of paintings by Julia Ciccarone, one of my favourite local artists. 

Julia Ciccarone, "We Are All Stories In The End" 2023, oil on linen, 122 x 183 cm

And recently at Australian Galleries in Collingwood there was an exhibition of paintings, drawings and ceramics by Mary Tonkin titled “Both Sides Now”.

Mary Tonkin, "Coprosma Madonna, Kalorama", 2021-22, oil on linen, 320 x 610 cm (Australian Galleries)

References;

NGV Magazine

Giacomo Balla - Futurist Artist

The Futurists, as their name implies, wanted to focus on creating a unique and dynamic vision of the future with artists incorporating images of urban landscapes and modern machinery into their work including trains, cars and aeroplanes.  Their work encompassed a variety of artforms including painting, sculpture, architecture, theatre and music with an emphasis on violence, speed and the working classes.  The movement was in effect a celebration of the machine age, with a deliberately provocative tone. 

The Futurists were based primarily in Italy and were lead by the charismatic poet Filippo Marinetti who produced in 1908 the manifesto below;

“We want to fight ferociously against the fanatical, unconscious and snobbish religion of the past, which is nourished by the evil influence of museums.  We rebel against the supine admiration of old canvases, old statues and old objects, and against the enthusiasm for all that is worm-eaten, dirty and corroded by time; we believe that the common contempt for everything young, new and palpitating with life is unjust and criminal.”

Dynamism Of A Dog On A Leash, 1912, oil on canvas, 90 cm 110 cm

The movement was at it’s most active in the years 1909-14 and influenced the thinking of some artists in Britain (hence the Vorticists).  The depiction of movement or dynamism lay at the heart of much Futurist work, and artists developed some novel techniques to express speed and motion including blurring, repetition, and the use of lines of force.  And here, they adopted methods employed by the cubists.  This brings me to the work of Giacomo Balla.   

Balla was born in Turin in 1871 and is thought to have had little formal training in art.  He moved to Rome in his early 20s and gradually came under the influence of Marinetti.  Unlike most Futurists though, Balla was a lyrical painter and seemed less concerned with modern machines or violence.  His 1909 painting “Street Light - A Study of Light” is a dynamic depiction of light.  Futurism’s fascination with the urgency and energy of modern life is evident in this work.

Street Light, 1909, oil on canvas, 175 cm x 115 cm

In 1912 Balla produced “Dynamism Of A Dog On A Leash”, a playful exploration in the depiction of movement.  The influence of cubism is thought to be evident in this painting.  Reference has also been made to the principle of simultaneity in this work, that is; the rendering of motion by simultaneously showing many aspects of a moving object.  

During the First World War, Balla produced a number of abstract works in which he further explored the depiction of speed through the use of planes of colour.  These paintings are the most abstract of any produced by the futurists.  The exploration into the optical possibilities of photo-scientific research carried out by Eadweard Muybridge and others were also thought to be influential in the work of Balla.  This research gave Balla the opportunity to study the true nature of movement.  The French impressionist Edgar Degas was also heavily influenced by Muybridge’s work.

Abstract Speed & Sound, 1914, oil on board, 55 cm x 77 cm

The horrors of the First World War saw many artists turn away from the ideals of Futurism.  In his series “A History Of British Art” the art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon makes reference to the ‘machine gun’ philosophizing of the Vorticists and their joyful celebration of 20th Century technology.  He believes this worshiping of the modern and the streamlined was eventually to be seen as a hollow pose due to WW1.  “How can you celebrate technology when in war it can so effortlessly turn the human face into a bloodied abstract.”

Abstract Speed - The Car Has Passed, 1913, oil on canvas, 50 cm x 65 cm

The Futurist artists Umberto Boccioni and Antonio Sant’Elia both died in military service during WW1 and the influence of Futurism as a force in contemporary art waned after the conflict.  However, Balla remained true to the early principals of Futurism (without the violence) and later in his career returned to more figurative work.  He also designed futurist furniture and “anti-neutral” clothing.  He died in 1958.

References; 

The Art Story

A History of British Art - BBC TV

Brittanica.com

Wikipedia

The Salvator Mundi - Art World Insanity

I’ve heard of rampant inflation, but this is insane.  How can a painting explode in value from $1175 in 2005 to $450 million in the space of 12 years?  It’s a story of greed and power that has captivated many in the art world including critic Ben Lewis, who wrote a book on the subject called “The Last Leonardo - The Secret Lives of the World’s Most Expensive Painting”.  It’s basically a biography of a painting.  A feature length documentary has also been produced on the subject. 

The painting in question is ‘Salvator Mundi’, thought to have been the work of Leonardo da Vinci.  Or is it?  Concerns over the authenticity of the painting revolve around a number of areas - including the state it was in after centuries of overpainting was removed during a recent restoration.  It’s thought that such is the extent of the restoration that little of it now bears the hand of the master.

Salvator Mundi, c.1500, Oil on board, 65.6 cm x 45.4 cm

Another concern about the painting’s authenticity relates to its provenance.  In his book, Lewis writes of the limitations that investigations into the provenance of paintings produced prior to the 19th Century can have.  “The result is that provenance histories for works of art from before the 19th century are frequently assembled from a range of probabilities, which reinforce each other. Such structures can be precarious, wobbling between the likely and the hypothetical. The evidence is often circumstantial…”  He writes of the tendency to meld fact with fantasy. 

Like many artists of his day (and even some today), Leonardo had a studio where he employed assistants and it’s not clear if the Salvator Mundi is an ‘autographed Leonardo’ - that is; designed and painted by him, or a ‘Leonardo plus workshop’ where an assistant painted it, perhaps under the guidance of the master. The problem is that there is a huge price differential between the two possibilities.  And to complicate matters further, there is thought to be at least 20 copies of the painting floating around the world. 

Leonardo was a celebrity by the time the Salvator Mundi was produced, and yet there is almost no documentation from the time indicating that he painted it.  Which is unlike almost anything else he produced, no hype, no mention of it in his notebooks.  According to Lewis, the greatest Leonardo experts in the world are divided over this painting which makes it such a fascinating topic.

After the overpainting had been removed by Dianne Modestini

It’s beyond the scope of this blog to trace the history of this painting, murky as it is, but in 1908 it appears in a photograph at the Cook Collection in poor condition, heavily overpainted.  The painting remains in the collection until 1958 when the Cook family hold an auction and whilst every major art dealer in Europe is in attendance, no one buys the Salvator Mundi.  That is, until an American couple who were travelling through the UK purchase it for 45 pounds before returning to the US on a cargo ship. 

The painting remains in their household in New Orleans for nearly 50 years, during which time the couple die and a relative decides to sell their collection of paintings.  A representative of Christies visits the home and ignores the painting which is eventually sold at a “forth division auction house” in 2005 to two New Orleans art dealers, Alex Parish and Robert Simon, for $1175.  They later claimed they spent $10,000 because they wanted to give the painting more credibility. 

And here the story becomes really intriguing.  Although the painting was in poor condition, it was the depiction of Christ’s hand that convinced them that it was worth restoring.  So they took the painting to one of America’s foremost restorers Dianne Modestini to weave her magic.  After removing all the overpainting the picture appeared as above.  A large crack that leads down to a knot appears in the painting and this is another argument used by those who question the painting’s authenticity.  Although Leonardo painted on board, he was thought to be a perfectionist and would never paint on a board containing a knot, due to the possibility that it would make the board unstable.  But during the restoration process, which took roughly six years, Modestini formed the view that it was a genuine Leonardo. 

As Lewis points out, the problem with restorations is that there are no guidelines or limits on how far a restorer can go to repair a work of art.  Therefore auction houses such as Christies are not required to warrant the condition of an artwork, or its restoration.  All they have to do is warrant that the painting is by, say, Leonardo. 

The Salvator Mundi first came to the public’s attention in 2011 when it was included in a major Leonardo exhibition held at the National Gallery in London, having been touted as a genuine Leonardo.  Afterwards, Simon and Parish decide it’s time to sell. 

Enter the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier.  For a decade, Bouvier had acted as an agent for the Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, selling him $2 billion dollars worth of art.  What Rybolovlev didn’t realise was that these purchases included a $1 billion dollar markup.  Bouvier’s negotiations with Sothebys for the purchase of Salvator Mundi on behalf of Rybolovlev in 2013 was a sham.  He purchased the painting for himself for $83 million and sold it the next day to Rybolovlev for $127.5 million.  He claims to have warned Rybolovlev not to buy the painting as he didn’t consider it a sound investment, but Rybolovlev insisted he wanted the painting.

Bouvier developed the concept of the ‘freeport’, which are armoured warehouses located usually within the perimeter of an airport or shipping terminal where people can store valuable items free from import duties.  These items can be bought and sold through the freeport system without any taxes being paid because the items are considered to be in transit.  It’s thought that billions of dollars of art are stored in these freeports as financial assets only.   

In 2014 Rybolovlev saw an article in the New York Times which stated the true price that was paid for the Salvator Mundi.  Feeling that he’d been taken advantage by Bouvier, Rybolovlev directs Bouvier to sell all his paintings by Christmas 2014, or face the consequences.  This directive was given on 22nd November.  As a result of the actions taken against him, Bouvier claims to have lost everything. 

And this brings us to the auction of Rybolovlev’s collection (which include works by Gauguin, Rothko, Magritte, Picasso) at Christies in 2017 and that record $450 million dollar sale of the Salvator Mundi, considered to be the black sheep in the collection.  Christies embarked on an outrageous advertising campaign to generate the necessary hype surrounding the painting.  They promoted it as the male Mona Lisa and produced a video which contains very little footage of the painting.  Instead we see people seemingly gobsmacked whilst looking at it - the cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio.  

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman & his yacht. (The Times)

These art auctions are pure theatre, and once the bidding on the Salvator Mundi reached $180 million, it had exceeded the previous record price for an artwork, anywhere.  The buyer turned out to be the ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  And now, the whereabouts of the painting is unknown.  It was a no-show at a major exhibition of Leonardo’s work that was held at the Louvre to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his death in 1519.  There was to have been an official unveiling of the painting in Abu Dhabi in 2018, but it was canceled 2 weeks prior.   It’s thought that the painting is stored on the Prince’s private super yacht. 

According to one critic, after drugs and prostitution, the art market is the most unregulated market in the world; a totally opaque world in which no one knows the true value of a work, who’s buying it and who’s selling it. 

References;

‘The Last Leonardo - With Ben Lewis’,  the Art Law Podcast, 2019

‘The Lost Leonardo’, 2021 documentary directed by Andreas Koefoed

My Latest Exhibition At Tacit Galleries

Interiors can include passageways to light, avenues for escape and architecture  to inspire.  Sigmund Freud had plenty to say about the significance of interiors and doorways in his book “The Interpretation of Dreams”.  If buildings are meant to shelter us from the world as Freud suggests, then what kind of shelter is being provided.  If buildings are our little kingdom, then what kind of kingdom are we rulers of?

My latest exhibition “Chambers Of The Mind” is based on paintings of fantasy church interiors and architectural capriccios produced by a number of artists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These works gave the artists an opportunity to show off their technical skill, and in order to enhance the grandeur of the scenes, they employed the rather dubious tactic of populated them with figures that were far too small.  And yet there is a coldness, a clinical quality to some of these paintings that appealed to me.

Late For The Wedding, oil on canvas, 71 cm x 101 cm

The settings for these classical paintings may have been imaginary, but in my re imaginings of them I have removed the figures in order to draw the viewer into the scene and explore it.  These interiors can be contemplative, exploratory and perhaps not entirely sane.

Banqueting Hall, oil on canvas, 66 cm x 86 cm

There are no religious overtones to this series.  I’m not a religious person but I do acknowledge the wonderful contribution religion has made to architecture.  It’s a matter of separating the corporeal  from the spiritual and it probably helps to be super sensitive to atmospheres.

The Cloister, oil on canvas, 71 cm x 101 cm

My art practice often includes taking the backward step of producing a drawing from an image I’ve encountered on the Net or elsewhere, so I can develop a relationship with the scene.  Occasionally I alter the composition and colours to achieve the desired effect.  The images in this series include claustrophobic spaces and vast empty ones to present different states of mind.

Searching For The Exit, oil on canvas, 51 cm x 46 cm

Inside the brain there is a storehouse of impressions, memory and experiences that can surface at different moments and it’s a matter of capturing those moments when creating.  External events impinge on our mental processes and they can spill out onto the canvas.

The Door Is Always Open, oil on canvas, 76 cm x 91 cm

The exhibition is being held at Tacit Galleries, level 1/189 Johnston Street Collingwood and runs until 29th July.

Romancing The Streetscape

This is the title of a notable exhibition currently being held at the Town Hall Gallery in Hawthorn, Melbourne.  Seven local artists; Robert Clinch, Cathy Drummond, Dani Mackenzie, Andrew Browne, Rick Amor, William Breen and Mark Chu present their unique interpretations of the urban environment.

Clinch, Lot's Wife, Gouche, watercolour and dry brush on paper, 107 x 198 cm

The viewer is taken on a stroll through the streets of (mainly inner) Melbourne where a melting pot of cultures rub shoulders with one another.  The catalogue refers to a romanticism in these works that is usually associated with landscape painting.  The exhibition presents a vibrancy of colour and light in the works of some artists contrasting with the soft muted colours of Rick Amor’s work.

Clinch, Fanfare For The Common Man, 2003, egg tempera on panel, 107 cm x 105 cm

There is an absence of people from most of these paintings - as if the emphasis is on the environment that most of us spend our lives in.  At the exhibition opening,  the absence of people is noted and reference made to the recent pandemic, although most of the paintings in the show predate 2020.  But there is certainly an air of alienation in some of the works, even a nostalgia for bygone era.

Drummond, Opp Shop, 2014, oil on canvas, 102 cmx 137 cm

This nostalgia is particularly evident in the paintings of Cathy Drummond.  Her work includes garish shop fronts that have long disappeared in the rapid development and gentrification of inner Melbourne.  Her paintings are full of character where she displays no fear of colour and a great understanding of composition.  But as a poignant reminder of the reality of the human condition for many, her paintings include an image of a railway viaduct and evidence of human habitation underneath.

Clinch, Spartacus, 2013, egg tempera on panel, 107 cm x 105 cm

I have never seen an artist master the challenging medium of egg tempera the way Robert Clinch can.  The clarity of light and fine detail in his work is astonishing.  Whilst his works give the impression that they are based on photography, this is not the case.  His compositions are a collage of multiple locations to create a seemingly realistic scene which is entirely imaginary.  When speaking of his career, Clinch explains that his catholic upbringing influences the titling of his works.

Breen, Made With Love, 2012, oil on canvas, 107 cm x 214 cm

William Breen’s work is inspired by the architectural history and eclectic contemporary graffiti of the inner suburbs. In speaking of his work, Breen says “The images echo a state of suspended animation when everything slows down to a point where one can appreciate the contemplative nature of a world in balance, a world where everything is in its right place; an ideal vision.”

Mackenzie, That Little Italian Place On The Corner, 2022,  oil on canvas,107 cm x 152 cm

Dani Mackenzie is becoming a significant artist on the contemporary scene.  There is a soft focus to her quasi-photographic imagery, combining a dreamy atmospheric light with a sense of mystery, even a foreboding in some of her night time scenes.  She is credited with infusing a mystery into the banality of everyday scenes.  She spends many hours walking the streets where she lives and works, looking for images that reflect the shared experience of living in a city. 

The exhibition continues until 15th April.

Hello, my name is Geoff. You may be interested to know that I’m a fulltime artist these days and regularly exhibit my work in Victoria, but particularly in Melbourne. You may wish to check out my work using the following link; https://geoffharrisonarts.com

References;

Romancing The Streetscape, Boroondara Arts

Art Of The Suburbs - George Shaw

He has been described as the Constable of the council estate.  British artist George Shaw was born in 1966 and raised in Tile Hill, a suburb of Coventry.  A painter of the ordinary and the mundane, Shaw seems to imbue these scenes with a romantic longing, whilst enhancing their bleakness.  He  studied art at Sheffield Polytechnic followed by the Royal College of Art in the 1990s, but the post-war council estates where he grew up continued to inspire him.

Playtime

Memories of childhood and adolescence provided the inspiration for his work - a sentimental and nostalgic reverie (as he puts it), but he believes that now his work is a confrontation with reality rather than “relaxing back into a comfortable situation”.  In an interview, Shaw expressed frustration over the need to develop a special language in order to understand contemporary art, whereas for him it’s all about engaging directly with another human being.  He wanted to produce an image which a professor of fine art could discuss with his mother and neither of them being condescending towards the other.  A universal language perhaps?

From Shaw's 12 Short Walks series, etching 2005

The religious overtones in the titling of his work derives from Shaw being raised as a Catholic, thus his titles often refer to the Bible or the life of Christ.  Commentating on his home town, Shaw once said “I don't think it has ever left me, that sense of possibility and familiarity and possible danger lurking out there somewhere beyond. I haunted the place and now it haunts me.”

The Path On The Edge, 1997-98

Shaw has some interesting insights into the responses to his work, “It has been said my work is sentimental. I don’t know why sentimentality has to be a negative quality. What I look for in art are the qualities I admire or don’t admire in human beings.”  He seems to be able to intertwine different emotions into his work.  There is a sense of foreboding, isolation, nostalgia in his work where the viewer has been taken on a journey to something hidden, or perhaps to an escape from some unexplained drama.  “I fear death considerably and I fear the ending of things, so I am anxious about things coming to an end... I am very clear in a lot of the images to always paint ways out.”

From Scenes From the Passion series; Christmas Eve

In an interview with the art historian Andrew Graham Dixon, Shaw explained some of his motivations. “When I first went to an art gallery at age 14 (the Tate), I didn’t see my world in that gallery….where is my life, perhaps my life isn’t worth anything?  You stepped out of your world into a gallery.”  So he decided to open the window at home and draw what’s there.  “And if you don’t find it beautiful, that’s your fault.”  Perhaps ironically, his work is now on the walls of the Tate.  Graham-Dixon argues that Shaw’s work isn’t just an accurate depiction of an urban environment, they are descriptions of a mood - modern man alienated in a largely man-made landscape.

End Of Time 2008-09

He works from photographs taken with a humble camera, he works quickly, not needing to roam around looking for inspiration.  He already has the inspiration, he just needs to find images that support it.  He has painted in water colour but primarily uses enamel.  

Shaw’s work is a melancholic exploration of the passage of time, of a sense of loss.  He often recalls a pub in Tile Hill, once the social hub of the area, but then demolished with no record of its existence save for his drawings.  The Guardian sums up his work succinctly, “the passage of time, the roots of who we are and the melancholy of approaching middle age.”

Every Brushstroke is Torn Out of My Body, 2016, Enamel on canvas, 198 cm wide

Hello, my name is Geoff. You may be interested to know that I’m a fulltime artist these days and regularly exhibit my work in Victoria, but particularly in Melbourne. You may wish to check out my work using the following link; https://geoffharrisonarts.com

References;

Artuk.org

Artfund.org

The Secret of Drawing - BBC TV

Images Of Aradale

A friend once said to me many years ago “It’s a pain in the backside when you are driven to do something that’s not economically viable”.  By which he meant - art.  But then, perhaps it depends on what type of art practice we are talking about.

When I was at art school in the 1990’s, I was made aware of an exhibition called the Cunningham Dax collection of psychiatric art that was on show at the Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne.  Talk about art on the edge!!  Years earlier, the head of the mental health authority in this state, Eric Cunningham-Dax, had rescued from the dumpmaster hundreds of drawings and paintings produced by patients of psychiatric hospitals.  They are now on permanent display at the Dax Centre, Melbourne University.  The last time I saw the exhibition, it had been sanitized compared to what I saw years before.  That is, not half as confronting.

Evening At Aradale, 2007 oil on canvas, 80 x 106 cm

The whole issue of mental illness, of an existence outside the mainstream, has long fascinated me.  Not to mention the history of mental illness in my family.  (Given recent events, I would imagine the prevalence of mental illness has skyrocketed generally.)  In the early 1990’s I attended an open day at the Willsmere Psychiatric Hospital in Kew just after the last patients had been removed.  Unforgivably, I left my camera home.  I didn’t make the same mistake when I visited the former Aradale facility in Ararat in western Victoria a few years later.

View From The Tower, Aradale, 2021, oil on canvas, 84 x 84 cm (available for sale on the Bluethumb website)

Aradale certainly attracted its fair share of adverse publicity over the years, largely due to underfunding by increasingly stingy governments.  It was opened for business in the late 1860’s and in its heyday was surrounded by 100 acres of land.  The facility raised its own cattle, sheep and poultry, did its own slaughtering, grew fruit and vegetables and thus was largely self-supporting.  Coal for the furnaces was about the only thing that needed to be brought in, apart from patients of course.  The facility also had its own tailors producing uniforms, a chapel and a morgue.

Winter At Aradale, 2021, oil on canvas, 66 x 86 cm (available for sale on the Bluethumb website)

Whilst facilities such as Aradale courted controversy from time to time, there is no doubt that “asylum” means refuge and sanctuary and many of the former patients would stand little chance of surviving in the outside world.  The notion of “least restrictive environment” governs mental health policy these days, thus we have the reality of “sidewalk psychotics” as the Americans call them. 

I held an exhibition of paintings based on Aradale at the  Ararat Gallery in 2004.  One of the gallery staff told me she drove past the entrance to Aradale the morning after it had closed in 1993 and saw what she believed to have been former patients gathering at the gates.  They may have been crazy, but they weren’t stupid.

Aradale Evening, 2022, oil on canvas, 71 x 86 cm (available for sale on the Bluethumb website)

Some year ago I got fully involved in exploring ‘issues’ in my art and was producing rubbish more often than not.  So while the issue of deinstitutionalization still lingers in the back of my mind, (as I see it as a symptom of a less caring society), I’ve learned to focus on the art.  Perhaps it’s better to cajole someone to a particular point of view rather than browbeating them.

Hello, my name is Geoff. You may be interested to know that I’m a fulltime artist these days and regularly exhibit my work in Victoria, but particularly in Melbourne. You may wish to check out my work using the following link; https://geoffharrisonarts.com

Howard Arkley - The Artist Who Didn't Airbrush Suburbia

An artist whose career was tragically cut short, Howard Arkley (1951-1999) first became aware of the airbrush in 1969 in his first year at art school.   He realised early on that he was not going to be a physical painter and the attraction of the airbrush was in being able to create an image without touching the surface.  “I was never going to love paint and wallow around in it.”  He said he wanted to make an image without getting his hands dirty.

According to Arkley’s biographer Ashley Crawford, Arkley absorbed the booming arts, punk rock and fashion scene of late 1970’s Melbourne in his art.  The airbrush gave Arkley the opportunity to make marks quickly without using much paint and with little “physical involvement”.   He agreed that what he was doing was going against the grain of painterly art that flourished in the 1980’s, in that he found the idea of mixing paint with turps and having the stuff “running down his arms” off putting.

Family Home 1993

So why the suburbs as his choice of subject matter?  “They are my life, that’s where I grew up, my childhood, my formative years and this is what formed me both in my personal life and artistic life”.

Arkley was awarded the Alliance Francaise Art Fellowship, an artist’s residency in Paris in 1977 but he also visited New York and his experiences taught him that there could be a unique Australian urban art.  He decided to use the suburbs as a cultural motif that had not been used before, and the wrought iron door with its flywire screen was the catalyst.  The infinite variety of styles fascinated him and it gave him an avenue to explore an Australian artform divorced from traditional landscape art.

The repeated patterns in these doors formed the basis of later art including some abstract works, but more importantly in the depictions of the house itself where these patterns appear almost in abstract form, both in interiors and exteriors – he drew no distinction between the two.  He saw patterns in houses, even those that contain no art at all and he didn’t want his art to be perceived as satirical.

Deluxe Setting 1992

When he spoke of inspirations for his work, Arkley reminds me a little of Andy Warhol.  He often spent time in supermarkets buying products for no other reason than the design on the packaging, the dynamic use of colour and form.  He also was influenced by art in the age of mechanical reproduction and he insisted that he wanted his paintings to look like reproductions, not the original, as though they had appeared in a book.  Speaking of which, he also drew inspiration for his interiors from magazines such as House and Garden and from real estate advertisements.

He didn’t intellectualize about his art.  He was a great gatherer of imagery and if he saw something that appealed to him, he would include it in his art.

Arkley had a love/hate relationship with suburbia “this suburban thing is in danger of swallowing me up, it’s a problem, and perhaps I should head for the You Yangs and get some relief.”  It’s this love/hate relationship that kept fueling the fire “you can’t grab it and come to terms with it.”

Freeway 1999

He was chosen as Australia’s representative at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and it was thought that the significance of his art was in breaking the mould of European perceptions of Australian art, and it was a great success.  I saw the exhibition “Howard Arkley and Friends” at Tarrawarra Museum of Art a few years ago and it was a revelation with his bold use of colour and stensils that seemed to bridge the gap between abstraction and figuration.

Portrait of Nick Cave, a 1998 commission from the National Portrait Gallery

In his 1999 ABC interview, Arkley came across as a hard working, unpretentious person with a few surprises.  “You go where your art takes you – it sounds romantic but I’m a romantic person.”  But he also had his demons.  His chaotic lifestyle was a concern to many of his friends and his addiction to heroin was a source of shame - he did his best to hide it.  I can vaguely remember seeing an interview with him many years ago when he was clearly stoned and it was disturbing viewing.  Shortly after the Venice Biennale, he had a sellout show in Los Angeles and then returned to Melbourne with his new wife Alison Burton.  Just a few days later, he died of a heroin overdose aged 48.

Hello, my name is Geoff. You may be interested to know that I’m a fulltime artist these days and regularly exhibit my work in Victoria, but particularly in Melbourne. You may wish to check out my work using the following link; https://geoffharrisonarts.com

References;

Howard Arkley 1999 ABC TV

The Guardian

The Independent