This weekend is your last opportunity to see Country and Western: landscape re-imaged, a major exhibition of Australian landscape paintings, curated by Gavin Wilson and toured by Perc Tucker.
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Several works in the exhibition include ‘figures in the landscape’ and in each case the figures add meaning and depth to the works.
Two such works are from The Invocations series by Tracey Moffatt.
There are 13 images in The Invocation series that was first conceived in the artist’s New York studio in 2000.
Invocations no.2 invokes Russell Drysdale’s bleak vision of drought-ravaged landscapes from the 1940s.
Moffatt’s vaporized desert landscape is animated by a lone female figure rising from the waste in the lower foreground.
The post-apocalyptic tone of the work is heighten by an obsolete telegraph pole seen in the form of a crucifix.
It is further enhanced by the wounded female gesturing towards a menacing flock of ravens in a cynical salute to the master of menace, Alfred Hitchcock.
My favorite work is Invocations no.8, an atmospheric Goya-like dreamscape.
Suspended in a foggy landscape are two witch-like figures, just out of reach from a pair of snarling dogs.
To create these works, sets and models were constructed for each scenario.
The resultant tableau was then photographed.
The next stage would involve working with a master printer to silkscreen each of the thirteen works, creating subtle textured layers.
By using up to twenty five silk screens per image, the final work is imbued with a dream-like quality and a seductive painterly finish.
Tracey Moffatt is one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists and an artist of international importance and influence.
Her latest exhibition Laudanum and other works is currently showing at the Art Gallery of NSW.
The Australia Council for the Arts has announced that Moffatt will be representing Australia at the 2017 Venice Biennale.
We wish to inform you that Helen Oliver, Cinema Manager, has procured the film series ‘Exhibition on Screen’ for Odeon 5 Orange.
‘Exhibition on Screen’ brings blockbuster art exhibitions from galleries around the world to cinemas. Produced by award-winning director, Phil Grabsky, the upcoming season of ‘Exhibition on Screen’ follows the success of previous titles such as Goya: Visions of Flesh and Blood from the National Gallery London, Renoir: Revered and Reviled from the Barns Foundation Philadelphia, Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse from the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
These special cinema events screened to more than 40 countries.
Also on show at the gallery is the Kedumba Drawing Award 2016.
The gallery is open 10am to 4pm daily. For more information contact 6393 8136 or visit the gallery’s website: www.org.nsw.gov.au