Industrial Cathedral

Industrial Cathedral
"Industrial Cathedral" charcoal on paper 131 x 131 cm Jane Bennett. Finalist in 1998 Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW Finalist 1998 Blake Prize Winner 1998 Hunter's Hill Open Art Prize

About Me

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Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'm an Industrial Heritage Artist who paints "en plein air".If it's damaged, derelict, doomed and about to disappear, I'll be there to paint it.
Showing posts with label Charles Demuth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Demuth. Show all posts

Monday 3 October 2011

"May close without warning" My Solo Exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery

A Sneak preview of some of the paintings
in my new solo exhibition
11 - 30 OCTOBER 2011
To be opened by Dr Jack Mundey AO
Tuesday 11 October, 6 - 8pm
Bay Village, 28 - 34 Cross Street Double Bay NSW 2028
ph: 02 9327 2475
Gallery hours: Mon to Fri: 10-5 Sat: 10-4 Sun: 11-4

My new exhibition at the
Frances Keevil Gallery, is about the transience of the built environment. Many of the paintings were inspired by the now demolished Cruise Ship Terminal at the South end of Barangaroo.
plein air charcoal drawing of demolition of East Darling Harbour Wharves  by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Wharf Skeleton" 2008 charcoal on paper 76 x 110cm
WINNER: 2008 DRAWING PRIZE ROYAL EASTER SHOW
Enquiries about this painting


plein air mixed media painting of Millers Point and Walsh Bay Wharves from Harbour Control Tower by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Miller's Point from the top of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower"
charcoal, ink, gouache on paper 121 x 134cm
SOLD
Enquiries about this painting

A large, complex and vertigo inducing drawing, "Miller's Point from the top of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower", tested my draughtsmanship and perspective skills to the utmost.
plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
'"May open without warning"'
2010 oil on canvas 51 x 76 cm
Enquiries about this painting

"May open without warning" is the cryptic inscription on the floor of the entrance to the loading dock and is the first painting in this series.
plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"May Close Without Warning",
Wharf 8, Barangaroo
oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Enquiries about this painting

















"May close without warning" , the second painting in this series, painted from deeper inside the building, derives its title from the warning signs on the fire doors inside Wharf 8. The empty chair was a haunting symbol of the loss of power and authority as the surrounding area is in a state of flux.
plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"I saw the number "8" in red" oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about other paintings of Barangaroo
SOLD







 



"I saw the number "8" in red" was painted in the Arrivals Hall. Apart from commemorating the startlingly weird giant number "8", the title of this painting is also my homage to the 1928 Charles Demuth painting "I saw the number 5 in gold..", an icon of American Modernism.
plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Your days are numbered" 2010
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm
Enquiries about other paintings of Barangaroo
SOLD

"Your days are numbered" shows the Arrivals Hall from a different angle.
plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
'Red Square' oil on canvas 36 x 36cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings


plein air oil painting of interior of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
'Red Square (Strange Customs)'
oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about this painting

'Red Square' shows the eerily empty Departures Hall with the strange bright red box at the end of the Hall, which marked where the passengers would leave the hall for the gantry. The large canvas was intended as the counterpart to "I saw the number "8" in red", which is the same size and format.
plein air oil painting of  now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Your days are numbered - Eight (ate)"
2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 25 cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings


"Your days are numbered - Eight (ate)" was painted after the demolition of the main building of Wharf 8.
The lonely numeral remained as a vestige of the former wharf for a few weeks afterwards.
plein air oil painting of  now demolished East Darling Harbour Wharves - now Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"The 'Hungry Mile' " 2007 oil on canvas 91 x 122cm
Enquiries about this painting


"The 'Hungry Mile' ", "The empty wharf" and the "Gathering Storm" are three large canvases of the same size and format painted from a similar vantage point, several years apart to show the contrast between past and present. They are like a time lapse sequence showing the transition of the 'Hungry Mile' from a working port into the construction site of Barangaroo.
"The 'Hungry Mile' ", the first of the series, is the working port in its last operational year, 2007.
plein air oil painting of  now demolished East Darling Harbour Wharves - now Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"The empty wharf" 2008
oil on canvas 91 x 122cm
Enquiries about this painting

"The empty wharf" I started painted this work the day after the stevedores left in mid October 2007 and completed it just before Cardinal began to demolish the wharf buildings at the start of 2008.

plein air oil painting of  now demolished East Darling Harbour Wharves - now Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
 














"The Gathering Storm" -
my unfinished plein air painting at Barangaroo,
91 x 122cm
Enquiries about this painting

I don't normally like showing half finished work, but I couldn't resist this. "The Gathering Storm" looks as though a piece of the sky has actually fallen down onto the waiting canvas.
plein air oil painting of  now demolished East Darling Harbour Wharves - now Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"The Gathering Storm over Barangaroo"
2011 oil on canvas 91 x 122cm
Enquiries about this painting

I am primarily a plein air painter, and I want to rescue this genre from being relegated to the category of the "Sunday" painter.
To paint a series of large, ambitious and complex canvases "en plein air" on demolition sites and operational wharves, usually in a howling gale, could be classed as an extreme sport.
It needs physical strength, determination and a touch of insanity as well.

All of these paintings, and more will be available for sale
at the Frances Keevil Gallery from Tuesday 11th October 2011.
Enquiries info@franceskeevilgallery.com.au

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Sunday 8 August 2010

Terminal, End or Extremity

Paintings of the Arrivals Hall of the former cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo.
These are unfinished oil paintings on canvas of the interior of the deserted former cruise ship terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8.
My first day of painting this canvas:
oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'I saw the number '8' in red... '
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm
Sold 
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings 




















The title is my homage to the 1928 Charles Demuth painting "I saw the number 5 in gold..", an icon of American Modernism. Like Demuth, I never let go of reality.
Though not a physical likeness, Demuth used imagery from William Carlos Williams’ poem "The Great Figure," to create an abstract portrait of his friend. The intersecting lines, repeated "5," round forms of the numbers, lights, street lamp, and blaring sirens of the red fire engine speeding down the street infuse the painting with a vibrant, urban energy.

Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city
"The Great Figure" William Carlos Williams
oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'I saw the number '8' in red... '
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

Sold 
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings 
The 2nd day of this painting- nearly finished, but needs glazing to emphasize the reflections and the dramatic shafts of light from the doorways.
oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
The completed painting: "I saw the number '8' in red... "2010  
oil painting on canvas  61 x 91cm 
Sold 
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings 
Starting my 2nd painting of the interior of the Arrivals Hall:
Setting out a rough idea of the composition:
oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
"I saw the number '8' in red" 2010
oil painting on canvas  61 x 183cm

Sold 
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings 
Starting work on a large panoramic interior of the Arrivals Hall.
This is a Saturday, and apart from the bored security guards on the gate I have the whole place more or less to myself so it is eerily silent.
For a change I have managed to get here early.
I've been battling a killer bout of flu for over a month and I've had to push myself to keep working. My throat has been so sore that I can only eat jelly and chicken soup for the last week.
I've taken in a thermos of icecubes to numb my throat and they seem to help. Whinge, whinge. This is totally self inflicted- I've been painting outdoors in the middle of winter on a freezing cold wharf in a howling gale and to misquote Alice in Wonderland it is bound to disagree with you sooner or later. However I wouldn't swap what I do for anything; it keeps me endlessly fascinated.
I only wish that I wouldn't get ill just at this crucial point in the history of Sydney Harbour - this is the last wharf on the historic Hungry Mile, which has been the fountainhead of Australia's maritime industry since settlement over 200 years ago, and it will be demolished in less than a fortnight!
No other artist in Australia seems to have an MSIC or a greencard; so I am the only person permitted to paint any of this.
Half way through my 1st day of painting :
oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
"I saw the number '8' in red" 2010
 oil painting on canvas  61 x 183cm
Sold 
Private Collection : Sydney
Work in progress on the easel at the end of the first day.




oil painting of interior of the now demolished  Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
I saw the number '8' in red" 2010
oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm
Sold
Private Collection : Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

I have used 'terminal' as part of the title of paintings in this series as a play on words. The following nuances of meaning I found particularly apt :

1.situated at or forming the end or extremity of something...
2. occuring at or forming the end of a series, succession, or the like; closing; concluding
7.pertaining to or placed at a boundary, as a landmark.
8. occuring at or causing the end of life: a terminal disease.
9.(Informal) utterly beyond hope, rescue or saving...
10. a terminal part of a structure; end or extremity.
13. a station on the line of a public carrier,as in a city centre ... where passengers embark or disembark...
(Courtesy of Dictionary.com)
Take your pick!

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See more at my Hungry Mile page
See more at my Millers Point page