I was fortunate enough to meet Alun Leach-Jones for the first time in July 2017 when I interviewed him in his Sydney studio for Art Guide Australia. The English born painter was softly spoken, but gregarious, and our conversation ranged from the discipline of his daily painting routine and his passion for abstraction and colour to his plans for the future which included a solo show of new work at Sydney Contemporary in September 2017.
I asked the artist if he planned to attend the 50th anniversary show The Field Revisited in May 2018. With a somewhat rueful smile he pointed out that at his age you couldn’t necessarily make plans that far in advance. Sadly Leach-Jones passed away on Christmas Eve 2017.
Leach-Jones is survived by his wife Nola, an artist in her own right. His work is in the permanent collections of major institutions around the world, including: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum, London; the National Gallery of Malaysia; and the Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand. His work is also held by The National Gallery of Australia and most of the state galleries.
During his lifetime Alun Leach-Jones influenced many younger artists and had more than 82 solos shows. In May 2018 Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne will hold a memorial exhibition of the new paintings the artist was working on when he died.
View our July 2017 studio visit with Alun Leach-Jones here.
65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art is an extraordinary account of the unique art of this continent, published alongside a landmark exhibition at the Potter Museum of Art. Necessary and urgent, it tells the story of Indigenous Australian art; a new art history unlike anything we’ve seen. For Jane O’Sullivan, it’s a remarkable and must-read book.
In a new series of illustrated postcards available as a free gift with purchase only at the Art Guide Bookstore, Oslo Davis takes on classic and contemporary art terms and genres and reimagines what they could be referring to.
With so much to choose from, we’ve rounded up the major summer exhibitions in each capital city, open all summer long. Spanning Yayoi Kusama, Magritte, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, and many more.
In Anmatyerr artist Elizabeth Mbitjana Pitijana’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne—which focuses on the Central Desert food source Arnwekety (bush plum)—the influence and love of her Country and culture is palpable. Elizabeth Mbitjana Pitijana is now showing at Niagara Galleries.
About Face is a smart piece of marketing. The new book on portrait painting from Australia and New Zealand has a mission to change buyers’ minds about the field. But as Jane O’Sullivan discovers, any sales pitch wears thin if it’s repeated often enough, and the close attention to how portrait painting is received by the market means that other important conversations fade to the background.
Whether beloved pets or superstitious omens, animals have always existed in art. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia’s latest exhibition is paying tribute to two of the most beloved animal figures: cats and dogs.
