Kate Vassallo draws the line
Kate Vassallo’s Ripple marks the conclusion of Artereal Gallery’s exhibition program, as the Sydney gallery is closing its doors after nearly two decades.
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John Olsen, Pied beauty, 1969, oil on composition board, 121.8 x 134 cm. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. South Australian Government Grant 1969. © John Olsen, administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
David Moore, Australia 1927–2003, No title (John Olsen with Frank McDonald standing under Summer in the you beaut country) 1962, type C photograph, (a) 18.5 x 28.9 cm (image) (top, (b) 17.5 x 24.5 cm (image) (bottom), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne © Estate of David Moore.
John Olsen, born Australia 1928, lived in Europe 1956–60, 1965–67 Man absorbed in landscape, 1966, oil on composition board, 122.1 x 126.0 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The Joseph Brown Collection. Presented through the NGV Foundation by Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, Honorary Life Benefactor, 2004 © John Olsen, administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
John Olsen, 2016. Photo: Garry Sommerfeld/NGV.
John Olsen, born Australia 1928, lived in Europe 1956–60, 1965–67 The bushman’s bed 2015
oil on canvas, 140.0 x 150.0 cm. Collection of the artist © John Olsen, administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
John Olsen, born Australia 1928, lived in Europe 1956–60, 1965–67 Lake Eyre 1975
oil on canvas, 214.0 x 200.0 cm. Private collection © John Olsen, administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
John Olsen, born Australia 1928, lived in Europe 1956–60, 1965–67 Journey into the you beaut country no. 1 1961, oil on composition board, 152.2 x 121.4 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased, 1961 © John Olsen, administered by Viscopy, Sydney.
The colours of the Australian landscape flow like connecting tributaries through John Olsen’s oeuvre. Even when depicting the inhospitable terrain of the Simpson Desert or the salt-encrusted waters of Lake Eyre, Olsen’s work teems with the suggestion of vibrant life.
Comprehensive in scope, the exhibition features a selection of Olsen’s iconic landscape paintings as well as examples of lesser-known works in ceramic and tapestry.
“It begins with one of Olsen’s first exhibited works, a still-life painting from 1951, through to the present day with a work that he completed in early July 2016,” says co-curator David Hurlston.
Known for his portrayal of the landscape, Olsen favours aerial views that reveal the patterns carved by nature and the changing seasons. Abstract yet highly evocative, Olsen’s works maintain a distinct visual language of squiggly lines, dots and expressive bursts of colour that, when arranged by the artist, move from chaos to a symphony of colour and movement.
It is a language that Olsen has successfully transferred to other mediums, and the exhibition includes three tapestries completed between 1965 and 1989, most notably the spectacular Joie de Vivre, 1964–1965.
The Terry Whelan Suite, a 200-piece dinner service Olsen was privately commissioned to embellish in 1970, has also been made available. “Displayed in the exhibition on a banquet table, it will be an unexpected surprise for many,” Hurlston says. “The vessels were wheel-thrown by potter Robert Mair and decorated by Olsen at Creswick, Victoria.”
A valuable insight into Olsen’s practice, The You Beaut Country also features 16 diaries and notebooks, offering the viewer an in-depth and personal view into the artist’s thought processes and working methods.
The You Beaut Country
John Olsen
National Gallery of Victoria
16 September – 12 February
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