Contemporary Australia: Women - Part Two

I wrote previously about  the work of Noel Skryzpczak in the Exhibition - Contemporary Australia: Women. The exhibition included many more artists whose work I found most inspiring.

Chromosome x 2012 : Hiromi Tango

As you enter the Gallery the giant work Chromosome x by Hiromi Tango dwarfs visitors. 

The artist used a variety of colourful materials - fabric, toys, and notes, to create this towering installation. All these items have a personal significance to Tango and her collaborators.  

Delightful finds include Peter Rabbit nestled there as well.

The shadows cast by Sally Smart’s Artists Dolls are as interesting as the actual sculptures.

Monika Tichacek’s fine watercolour drawings display a fascination with the natural world. I loved the intricacy and delicacy of the detailed drawings.

The work of painters from the Amata region is so vibrant - collaborative work by the grandmothers, mothers, daughters and grandchildren - I’ll leave you with a couple of images to enjoy.

Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru – Our country) 2012 Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Iluwanti Ken, Australia b.1944, Pitjantjatjara people | Mary Katatjuku Pan, Australia b.1944, Pitjantjatjara people | Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken, Australia b.1965, Pitjantjatjara people (Collaborating artist) | Serena Ken, Australiab.1985, Pitjantjatjara people (Collaborating artist) 

Seven Sisters Synthetic polymer paint 

Tjampawa Katie Kawiny, Australia b.c.1921, Pitjantjatjara people | Mona Mitakiki Shepherd, Australia b.1954, Pitjantjatjara people (Collaborating artist) | Tjimpayie Prestley, Australia b.1967, Pitjantjatjara people (Collaborating artist) | Seven sisters 2011 | Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Holiday fun for kids

The Community of Artists and a painting called "Jungle"

On Friday I had the opportunity to paint in my studio with a fellow artist - an experience that I haven’t had since I left South Africa a year and a half ago. We painted, chatted, looked at each other’s work and generally had a productive morning.


In the afternoon we went into the city to visit an exhibition at GoMA  (Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art)  Contemporary Australia: Women. The visit was prompted by an earlier discussion about a particular work: Noël Skrzpczak’s installation Jungle 2012. My friend had seen it on an earlier visit to the gallery. We were curious about the artist’s process, and wanted to see if we could work out how it had been made.

Detail: Noël Skrzpczak Jungle 2012 - Synthetic polymer paint - Site specific installation commissioned for this exhibition. Collection: The artist.

Close examination of this monumental work left us none the wiser. While chatting to a Gallery staffer we learned that when the work (in GoMA’s long gallery) was installed the entire area was screened off so the process would remain secret.

Detail: Jungle 2012

Essentially it’s poured paint, a smooth skin only millimetres thick. The vibrant pigments are luscious and delicious; juicy colours merge and blend, flowing down the wall. 

Metres high, it was almost impossible to photograph in its entirety. Joins in the painting were barely visible. It looks like a giant transfer adhered to the wall but that description doesn’t do the work justice. It's a wonderful work, full of energy and inspiring colour.

Jungle 2012 - View from the upper level of the Long Gallery

GoMA’s website says the following: 

Skrzypczak describes her monumental paintings as ‘addressing the wall’. While her    paintings showcase the brilliance of contemporary pigments and the painterly quality of flatness, her method is also intensely physical: rather than controlling paint with a brush, Skrzypczak uses an action-based pouring process. By emphasising her materials and the physicality of her process, Noël Skrzypczak reveals her belief in the continuing ability of the art of painting to give visible form to abstract ideas.

Exhibition News

The  Redcliffe Art Society holds an annual exhibition in the Redcliffe Art Gallery. It is a selected Members’ exhibition, with each member submitting two paintings. Both my paintings, one in the Still life category and another an Abstract were selected.

The official opening was on Friday evening. The day was miserable - cold and wet - and the thought of a slow trip in the Friday evening traffic was not appealing. However, I’m so glad I went. The work was of a high standard. Entries were hung in specific categories - landscape; still life & interiors; portraits and abstract among categories.

 Bark II - oil on canvas - 610mm x 915mm Carol Lee Beckx © 2012

 It was an honour to receive both Commended for Still Life with citrus and First Prize for Bark II - a reward for venturing out on a cold rainy evening. The gift voucher for art materials from  ArtHouse Northside in Deagan is most welcome.

Bark II is another painting in the series done with trees as the kick-off point.  An ink drawing of a strangler fig was the inspiration. 

The painting started off in a conventional way - with the tree standing upright as all good trees should - then the blue on either side seemed superfluous and out it went.

 Once the sky was banished I was free to rotate the image 180 degrees…