From visits on consecutive days.
QAG
William Delafield Cook's "A Haystack" (1982), its near-photo realism combining with the unusually close perspective to defamiliarise the subject. In another layer, it turns out the artist has also been inspired by encounters with ancient Greek temples.
Billy Benn Perrurle - "Artyetyerre - Harts Range" (2008).
GOMA
I liked the Ben Quilty exhibition. There's a gestural forcefulness even to his earlier paintings which deepens into something really interesting over time, through the Afghanistan war, the 'last supper' ones, and examinations of the violence and ghosts of Australia's settler history. By the end I was sold on the multi-panel Rorschach paintings too, with the technique adding more than just interest and an element of the spectacular to generate some real resonance.
I wasn't in the mood for crowds so only had a quick look through the Margaret Olley exhibition, but saw enough to get a feel for why she's so popular - very appealing.
Sometimes art has something that enables it to transcend elements that ought to consign it to banality. An example: Anne Wallace's "Passing the River at Woogaroo Reach" (2015).
Daniel Crooks' "Phantom Ride" (2015). I've liked Crooks' spliced videos each time I've encountered them. This one has two channels, one facing forwards and the other backwards, as you ride along a succession of tram and train tracks through metro and regional Australia.
QAG
William Delafield Cook's "A Haystack" (1982), its near-photo realism combining with the unusually close perspective to defamiliarise the subject. In another layer, it turns out the artist has also been inspired by encounters with ancient Greek temples.
Billy Benn Perrurle - "Artyetyerre - Harts Range" (2008).
GOMA
I liked the Ben Quilty exhibition. There's a gestural forcefulness even to his earlier paintings which deepens into something really interesting over time, through the Afghanistan war, the 'last supper' ones, and examinations of the violence and ghosts of Australia's settler history. By the end I was sold on the multi-panel Rorschach paintings too, with the technique adding more than just interest and an element of the spectacular to generate some real resonance.
"Rorschach after von Guerard" (2008)
"Farewell virginity" (2015) and "Joe Burger" (2006)
I wasn't in the mood for crowds so only had a quick look through the Margaret Olley exhibition, but saw enough to get a feel for why she's so popular - very appealing.
Sometimes art has something that enables it to transcend elements that ought to consign it to banality. An example: Anne Wallace's "Passing the River at Woogaroo Reach" (2015).
Daniel Crooks' "Phantom Ride" (2015). I've liked Crooks' spliced videos each time I've encountered them. This one has two channels, one facing forwards and the other backwards, as you ride along a succession of tram and train tracks through metro and regional Australia.
