THE striking portrait Who Would Win In A Fight Between My Dad And Your Dad? by Andy Quilty is one of 27 outstanding drawings currently on display in the Kedumba Drawing Award at Orange Regional Gallery.
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The Kedumba Drawing Award is widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost drawing events and provides a great insight into the many approaches that contemporary artists are bringing to this ancient practice.
Quilty (who is based in Western Australia and not to be confused with Ben Quilty) is developing a solid reputation as a draughtsman and a portrait artist.
This portrait certainly draws the attention of visitors as they enter the exhibition. Its larger than life scale and expressive use of blue ballpoint pen, gives it real presence.
People seem to relate to the use of ballpoint pen as a drawing medium, possibly because we’re all quite familiar with it having made doodles while sitting on the phone. It’s not the sort of humble medium you might expect to find in a gallery. It’s as though the guy next door took doodling to the next level.
Quilty layers his marks over one another, building the intensity. A close look reveals his subtle use of different pens to achieve a range of blues. He works feverishly and at times the pen runs dry, leaving scratches in the paper.
The great French artist Edgar Degas once said: “We were made to look at each other, weren’t we?”
This fascination we have with each other lies at the heart of our culture and is one reason why portraiture is still going strong today.
This man depicted in Who Would Win In A Fight Between My Dad And Your Dad?’ looks as though he’s getting ready to serve up a knuckle sandwich. Of course the title gives us a clue that this picture is about aggression. We can sense the intensity and toughness in the face, and like any good portrait, this drawing skillfully conveys psychological presence.
This is just one of the many great drawings in the award that Kedumba trust director Jeffrey Plummer, will be discussing in his floor talk on Saturday, October 24 at 11am. Mr Plummer will talk about the selection of artists for the 2015 award and share personal perspectives on the drawings presented in this year’s exhibition. Entry is free.
Also on display at the gallery:
Festival Of Student Art until Sunday, November 22 and Christian Thompson REMIX: a decade of photography until Sunday November 15.
The gallery is open every day from 9am to 5pm (except Christmas Day). Entry to exhibitions is free.
For more information contact the gallery on 6393 8136 or visit our website www.org.nsw.gov.au
