OPENING  FRIDAY 10TH JULY AT 6PM

THE SEVEN PAINTERS - THE FIRST FIFTEEN

Jennifer Finnie, Patricia Williamsz, Michael Bateman, Neville Cottee (not exhibiting), Malcolm Sands, Sarah Knights, Andrew Finnie

Exhibition runs from 9th to 26th July with the gallery open Thurs - Sunday 12 to 5pm.

I managed to catch up with three members of the group over the last week..

Jennifer Finnie

 I found Jennifer Finnie working quietly away in Studio 20 at Newcastle Community Arts Centre and we spoke briefly about her art practice.  She spoke about being drawn towards the likes of Fred Williams, Vincent Van Gogh and the Bay Area Figuratives amongst others.  She spoke of the desire to capture the sense of being in the landscape, through sketching plein air whenever possible, then painting directly wet on wet alla prima style to capture the essence of the view in quick, direct mark making.  When I left, Jennifer had set up a brand new pure white canvas in front of the window light.  I wonder which work this has become in the exhibition.  Perhaps Northern View along Newcastle Beach pictured below.

 ” Resolving the picture plane in terms of abstract composition while maintaining distinct figurative reference poses another exciting challenge for me ..... I am currently exploring this idea in various media." Jennifer Finnie.

Michael Bateman

Formerly from the western suburbs of Sydney, Michael Bateman talked of his love of Newcastle.  He walks from home to work past Newcastle’s primal iconic buildings, landscape and streetscapes, sighting whales and dolphins in the harbour.  Here he sees at close hand the changing face of our city, the restored historical facades, the lost history of other buildings, transport infrastructure changes, and the alterations to our local spaces.  He commented that while the seven painters had been working away, they had simultaneously, without realising, been documenting the city’s history in paint and media.

He is a realist painter of the city and his Tuesday night studio
time is personal and precious.  Here he immerses himself in his love of drawing. Michael talked earlier of the camaraderie, honesty and openness that had developed amongst the group and the trust they have for each other’s opinion.

“Europe schmurope, look in your own backyard. Your yard is an amazing place and carries with it loads of emotion and experience. Be true to yourself and paint from experience”. Michael Bateman

 

  Patricia Williamsz  

Patricia Williamsz was born in Northern Ireland and has worked in many professions including law and finance.  She studied landscape design and is obsessed with landscape.

Patricia discussed her art commitment as “an itch that has to be scratched”.  She immerses herself into the landscape, drawing plein air.  She then puts away all her drawings, photographs and research materials in an attempt to capture the ‘essence’ of the experience of being in the space, through memory and emotion without further obvious planning. In this way she reacts to both the remembered experience and the direct response to the medium itself.  Patricia talked about the influence of the works of Judith White and her fascination with geology.  As part of her process Patricia talked of sometimes scrubbing back and erasing surfaces and re-layering new marks, in the same way that the geology of the landscape is scrubbed backed and re-built layer upon layer over history.
"..... amalgam of both the outer reality through which we travel and the secret inner landscapes of the memory and imagination”. Patricia Williamsz

Andrew Finnie 

Andrew Finnie is a prolific artist working in digital animation, illustration, writing and painting to name just a few.  His childrens' books are currently with a literary agent in New York hoping for publishing soon and he is sought after for his book illustration work.  One of the original four of the (now) seven painters, his current work depicts local scenes of Newcastle, produced in his well established style.  They reflect our local streets, the house next door and the changing face of Newcastle's architecture.  These works are absolutely charming, filled with colour as they reflect an obvious joy of mark making with paint.

Sarah Knights

In the gallery Sarah's work reflects the light and colour of the Laparinta Trail.  Sarah states in her CV that she began painting seriously only five years ago and has recently joined the Seven Painters Studio Group. In her statement she talks of the influence of Matisse, Arthur Boyd and David Hockney.  

"My interest was in the rhythms, shapes and patterns, which reoccur in the landscape.  I have tried to capture the feeling of walking in the midday winter sun, the colour of the land, which appears magnified while you are there and is somehow lost in the photograph." Sarah Knights

 

Malcolm Sands

Malcolm has just recently returned from Venice and I have not been able to catch up with him.  Funnily enough, the influence I felt when I first viewed his work was Italian and they somewhat evoked a memory of my own travels in Italy and Tuscany.  These works are small, personable and highly desirable.  The perfect size to fit into any space in an office or home environment.

"My art practice is focused on themes relating to the human presence in the landscape in the form of buildings and roadways.".......

"In the past year I have concentrated on mark making with broad brush strokes on randomly shaped recycled cardboard which produces interesting relationships between the painted composition and the outer edge of the support in much the same way that the developing suburbs form new and diverse intersections across the landscape." Malcolm Sands

Chris Byrnes
NAS Committee (with assistance from Andrew Finnie)

Exhibitions opening this Saturday 20th June 6pm and on display from June 18 - July 5

Gallery 1

Symbiote - photographs by Michael Randall

“Symbiote” opened this week at Newcastle Art Space.  This is the first solo exhibition by photographer Michael Randall since winning the Newcastle Emerging Artist Prize last year.   Michael has a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from Newcastle University and is currently working full time to support his art practice.

Symbiote literally means:

An organism in a symbiotic relationship

In cases in which a distinction is made between two interacting organisms, the symbiont is the smaller of the two and is always a beneficiary in the relationship, while the larger organism is the host and may or may not derive a benefit.

In conversation with Michael earlier this week, he discussed his ideas about the role of traditional versus digital photography, his love of the study of the origin of words (etymology), and his interest in the relationship between the natural world and our human interaction, impact and influences upon it.  Would the natural world flourish if humans ceased to exist?  Do we need the natural world and are they tolerating us? 

His new works are self portraits in which Michael has staged himself in conversation with aspects from the natural world.  While using a digital camera and output, Michael voiced his belief in the significance of maintaining the hand-made aspect of making a photograph.  To this end, he paints and decorates his face and body in real time so that everything necessary can be found on the digital negative.  Photoshop intervention and alteration is reduced to that found in minimal dark room processing.  It must be his hand that controls the shutter-release cable and takes the exposure as he wants to stay connected to the process and not off-load any aspects, if at all possible.

These are absolutely beautiful images and while, of course, any art work may have autobiographical elements, Michael both exposes and hides himself within these self portraits. He paints his body in white, chocolate and black paint to play with ideas about identity, culture and ethnicity, even though these are not necessarily conscious connections being made by the artist.

In one work, in particular Michael talked of literally painting himself out of the picture completely and letting nature be the stronger.  In other works Michael has directly attached plant species with human spine-like lines over his own spinal structure.  The plant species visually support and strengthen his body in an area where he now has a fine surgical scar to repair physical damage.

In another, his shoulders and upper body are covered in flower petals from the family garden.  The plant had ceased to flower each year, and only after the family buried the loved family dog near the tree did it burst with new life and colour.  A new interdependent relationship was formed in the natural cycle.

From my viewer perspective, I am so excited about the strength of this work and the beauty and balance within these works.  While my connections to the works, tell the combined story of my physical viewing of the work mixed with my own interpretation of visual clues that I found within the work, this experience may be different for every new viewer.  That is the magic of photography and the wonder in art.

Michael prefers to talk less about himself and his work and let the work speak for itself but I have opened up this dialogue with Michael’s permission.  It is, of course, only one perspective.  Michael is happy to be contacted via email at m.a.randall@hotmail.com

Gallery 2

Film Noir - storytelling through photography by Joerg Lehmann

When he was a small boy, Joerg Lehmann was being pushed in a pram through the dark alleys and streets of Germany by his great grandmother.  As a street light broke into the darkness, the young boy spoke his first word – licht (German for light).  Joerg has been fascinated with light ever since and with a father and grandfather both amateur photographers, the love of the camera and photography was destined to be absorbed by Joerg.

While Joerg has sold work and undertaken commissions, his current work Film Noir, Storytelling with Photography, marks his first solo exhibition as a photographer.  Joerg comes to Newcastle via, Melbourne, San Francisco, California and Germany, settling in Newcastle in 2014. He is a husband and father and currently works in radiation therapy at the Calvary Mater Hospital as a research physicist and is an Associate Professor with the University of Sydney.  He is an Accredited Professional Photographer (APP), a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), and certified by Special Kids Photography of America (SPKA) with specific training to sensitively work with children with special needs.

His current work is presented in the style of Film Noir which refers to a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder.  Joerg has been working in this style for the last five years. Stepping into the room is like stepping onto a film set and his photographic skill is evident on every surface within this space.

The images are positioned along the gallery walls as if they are one large strip of black and white film.   

 Each sequential image tells an individual story and collectively they reflect the whole story board.  These are finely and exquisitely composed images, depicting stories of mystery, intrigue, murder, and the role of the Femme Fatale.  The drama, constructed elements and the lighting are all perfect.  If the picture plane of any image was crossed, it would be easy to close your eyes and imagine, hearing the film Director calling out “Action” and the characters would walk into the next frame.  In these works, Joerg takes on the role of photographer, director, producer and lighting designer and brings each photographic still to life. He works in close collaboration with other creatives, including makeup artists and costume designers as part of the process.  

Technically these are digital photographs printed mostly as silver halide archival prints.  Joerg sourced the 8ply museum rag mats used in the frames from the United States specifically for these works. These are a small limited edition range of prints so a red dot does not mean the entire edition has been sold.  Talk to Joerg and gallery staff for details.

Joerg has a studio at the Newcastle Community Arts Centre where he teaches photographic lighting techniques and can be contacted via email at: joerg@photoJL.com for collaborative projects and any commercial photographic opportunities.  His website can be found at: www.photoJL.com

Anyone who enjoys black and white photography and the nostalgia of early film-making must see these works. Definitely an enriching experience talking to Joerg this morning.

Chris Byrnes
NAS Committee

Get Ready It's Coming

Newcastle Emerging Artist Prize for 2015 is coming.  

2015 will celebrate the 15th year of this prize and we are looking forward to viewing exciting, professional quality entries across all mediums from the wider art community.

Check out details and entry forms by clicking on the Newcastle Emerging Artist Prize tab above.

Current Exhibitions

The Gallery is filled with a collection of new works from seven artists and it looks fabulous.

Gallery 1
Six Mix

The artists in Gallery 1 are staging their first group venture together and come from current tertiary student or recent graduate backgrounds.  They are: Sophie Montgomery (photography), Renae Titchmarsh (graphic design), Lochlan Howard (sculpture/dioramas), Lindsay McDonald (digital imaging) Drew Holland (painting/monotypes), and Luke Grey (lino prints), opening Friday 29 May,6.00pm

Gallery 2

Mind Exhortations 

Josh McGregor's solo exhibition in Gallery 2 comprises a body of finely executed and detailed works on paper using different drawing and painting mediums and techniques. These are undertaken in his already established and well-defined style. The official opening is Saturday 30 May, 6.00pm

A must see exhibition of talent and potential on show in Newcastle West.  Some images below:

Glebe Rd by Lochlan Howard

Carrington by Renae Titchmarsh

Study on Brown Paper by Lindsay McDonald

Bamboozle by Luke Grey

Dog Beach by Drew Holland

Face#3 by Luke Grey

Lemon Caravan by Lochlan Howard

Government Office by Renae Titchmarsh

Sharks 111 by Drew Holland

Throsby Creek #1 by Sophie Montgomery

 OK by Lindsay McDonald

Throsby Creek #2 detail by Sophie Montgomery

Untitled by Josh McGregor

Untitled by Josh McGregor

7 - 24 May 2015 - Veritas III 

‘Veritas III’ is the San Clemente Community’s third bi-annual exhibition, to be held at the Newcastle Art Space. San Clemente is a year 7- 10 Catholic high school,
located in Mayfield with a rich cultural diversity having over 37 nationalities
represented among the students and staff members. Artworks displayed in this
exhibition have been created by students, teachers, office staff, friends and family members of this community.

A collaborative artwork has been planned to celebrate the depth, diversity and uniqueness of the San Clemente School Community. For this group artwork, titled ‘Veritas’ after the school motto, 80 individual papier mached letters will be displayed, each decorated to represent one aspect of this school spirit. The decoration is inspired by a word or phrase that indicates the artist’s connection with the school community. The letters will be available to purchase at $10 each with profits going to Caritas Australia, the International Aid and development
organisation of the Catholic Church.