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

My photo
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 loading dock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loading dock. 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

Related Posts

Sunday 8 August 2010

Behind the Red Door

Barangaroo : Terminal - Loading Dock
Plein air oil paintings on canvas of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8  painted in July 2010
plein air oil painting of now demolished cruise ship terminal at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Behind the red door " 2010
oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
Enquiries about this painting
A tantalizing glimpse of Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont behind the door within a door.
Painted inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8, which will be demolished in a few weeks time.

Tuesday 27 July 2010

May close without warning

Paintings of former cruise ship terminal Wharf 8, Barangaroo.
This building was demolished in late August 2010.
It had only been opened in July 1999, for the expected influx of cruise ships for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
This painting shows the entrance to the loading dock, normally off limits to the public.
The door is open to the view north towards the Sydney Harbour Control Tower on the right and the new temporary cruise ship facilities in the marquee to the left.
Poignant reminders of the site's previous function create ironic, even surrealist undertones.
plein air oil painting 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 56 x 76cm
Enquiries about this painting

















Painted from a similar viewpoint as "May close without warning..."
I changed the title from "Inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8" to the more catchy "May Open without warning".
I had painted the sign on the ground but hadn't really noticed how it made a neat bookend to the other painting until my gallery pointed it out!
Through the doorway is the Sydney Harbour Control Tower and the marquee used for the temporary cruise ship facilities by Sydney Ports Corporation.
plein air oil painting of now demolished cruise ship terminal Wharf 8 at Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"May close without warning "
2010 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Enquiries about this painting

The title of this painting could double as my motto!
"May close without warning" says it all.
I never need to make jokes - the truth is quite adequately hilarious.