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.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo?

 Panel Discussion at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo? 

Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet
2 – 4pm Sunday March 10

plein air oil painting of Barangaroo and Millers Point by artist Jane Bennett
DH248 'The wharves and High St
from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
It's that time of year again.
Galleries and collectors are slowly waking up after their annual summer hibernation. The Art market is as seasonal as fruit-picking. 
March is "Art Month".All of the galleries bring out the big guns to impress. 
My solo exhibition "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo" is the signature event of the Frances Keevil Gallery for Art Month.
Instead of doing the usual artist's talk to accompany the show I thought that I'd try something a bit different.
The trouble with artist's talks is that they probably only really interest other artists.
So what would interest the average Sydney-sider?
How about ludicrous amounts of money, murky politics, waterfront real estate to die for ..... and a little whiff of scandal? Sounds very Sydney to me.
After a great deal of thought, many emails and even more phone calls, I have put together  a carefully selected panel for a no holds barred discussion about Barangaroo.
I hope that it will be a balanced yet informative discussion. Some past history and controversy will be aired, but it's an opportunity to discuss some of the many complex issues raised by the Barangaroo development in front of the exhibition of paintings I actually created on the site.
The  participants are:

Graham Jahn AM Director City Planning Development and Transport, City of Sydney
Dr Jack Mundey AO legendary activist and 'Grandfather of the Green Bans', who was also a member of the jury that chose the original design for Barangaroo
Philip Thalis principal of Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, whose design team won the competition to design Barangaroo - yet whose design has not been adopted for the actual construction.
John McInerney
former Councillor of the City of Sydney and now President of "Australians for Sustainable Development". John also actually lives in Millers Point.

Monday 4 March 2013

Macdonaldtown - A Station without a suburb

I was asked by the National Trust After Hours Committee if I could help with a heritage walk "Macdonaldtown Meander" on Sunday 3rd March.
This was quite a challenge.
I have painted Macdonaldtown's majestic neighbour,the Eveleigh Railway Workshops many times,but Macdonaldtown itself had never appeared as an obvious source of inspiration.
But I was intrigued and decided to explore. I'm glad that I did. Often I can concentrate on more obviously spectacular vistas, and miss the subtle charms of smaller details, such as the exquisite series of classical heads as vignettes between each terrace in a row close to the start of Wilson Street.
Macdonaldtown's streets were full of delightful surprises.
This charming decorative corbel is carved into the classically inspired head of a lady.  It separates a row of five 3 storey terraces at the western end of Wilson street. Some of them have been tastefully gentrified in harmonious neutral shades, while their neighbours sport shabby yet garish liquorice all-sorts colours. 
The hot pink terrace on the right reminds me of the time in 1986 when  a couple of local lads decided to beautify Macdonaldtown Station by painting it pink. All of it. Tables, chairs walls and even a pot plant were glued down and painted pink in an "overall effort to enhance the station". No conviction was recorded and the State Rail Authority's claim for damages was rejected by the Magistrate. I had hoped that the hot pink terrace had been occupied by these 2 intrepid painters, but they actually lived in Enfield at the time.
plein air oil painting of urban landscape by artist Jane Bennett
 'The Lady of the house' 
Row of terraces in Wilson street
2012 oil on canvas 18 x 13cm
Available
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Macdonaldtown, despite its freshly renovated railway station, is not actually a bona fide suburb.
It's a "locality". More of a state of mind, really. The slightly shabbier sister, always being dominated by her more prominent Newtown, St Peters, Enmore, Erskineville and Redfern.The hinterland ; with most of the local landmarks residing slightly outside her nebulous borders -the exciting King Street shopping strip; the funky CarriageWorks; the chimneys of the St Peters Brickworks; the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.
Macdonaldtown remains the almost invisible space in-between.
While painting in Macdonaldtown, I found most of her inhabitants actually denied living there. They lived in "Newtown", "South Newtown", "near Eveleigh", "west of CarriageWorks", "Hollis Park", "North Erskineville", even the marvellously convoluted "south of Wilson Street West". This could be influenced by the vagaries of  real estate prices rather than dislike of the name Macdonaldtown.
Macdonaldtown mostly consisted of terrace houses of the cheapest possible construction,generally 4 metres (13 ft) wide "two-up two-down" with a rear kitchen.They usually had adjoining walls only one brick thick and a continuous shared roofspace. Hundreds of these  formerly humble dwellings still remain and are rapidly being gentrified. 19th century property developers would build a row terminating in a house of 1 1/2 width at the corner of the street, to be used as a commercial premises, or "Corner Store".

plein air oil painting of urban landscape by artist Jane Bennett
'Someone to watch over me' 
2012 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm

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So this lion watching over a shabby shop on Erskineville Road opposite the Erskineville Hotel came as quite a surprise. This is the sort of rooftop sculpture that I would expect on a castle or mansion, rather than in the middle of a tatty row of terraces. It hints at a sort of delusion of grandeur.
 Only 1 person in the pub opposite had ever noticed it peering down at them!


plein air oil painting of urban landscape by artist Jane Bennett
'Derelict 'Edward Brooks'
factory in Wilson street  2012
oil on board 22 x 28cm

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Another architectural surprise.
The terraces at the northern and eastern end (closer to the University and the city) are as a rule far more prestigious than the workers cottages to the west and south, especially the row in Georgina Street and Warren Ball Avenue next to Hollis Park.
However, next to the very upmarket Hollis Park area, is the very large and very derelict 'Edward Brooks' factory, crumbling into Wilson Street. The winch above the window hints at its industrial past.

plein air oil painting of urban landscape by artist Jane Bennett
 'Edward Brooks building, Wilson Street'
2013 oil on canvas  46 x 92cm
Available
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This larger painting shows the steps up to the lovely park next door, and how the old factory contrasts with the freshly renovated terrace next door.
 The former 'Edward Brooks building' was known locally, rightly or wrongly as the 'Hat Factory'. By the size of the winch hats (and presumably heads) were a lot bigger back in the good old days!
 None of the locals have so far been able to tell me very much about its history. One man from the Erskineville Hotel, whose dad used to live 3 doors down, said that it was a foundry, which seems possible, although records show the "IronWorks" as being a block further west down the road at no. 150 Wilson Street.
His dad, like so many of the former residents of Macdonaldtown's workers terraces, was an employee of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.Built in 1878, the Eveleigh Railway yards housed the Government Railway Stores and Workshops, and the Locomotive Engineer’s Department from 1901. Production declined in the 1970s and ceased in 1988. The site lay mostly disused til 1996 when the northern (Darlington) end was developed for a communications and science research facility known as the Australian Technology Park.  In 2002 the central part of the north-eastern site became the too cool for school Carriageworks performance space. The forecourt hosts weekly farmers' markets and monthly craft markets. 

plein air oil painting of urban landscape by artist Jane Bennett
 'Pediment with wheat sheaf-
old Henninges bakery in Wilson street -
now 'Original Finish'
2012 oil on canvas 20 x 20cm
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The wheat sheaf on the pediment, reveals the original use of 'Original Finish' as a bakery.
The former Newtown Bread Factory, on the corner of Wilson and Watkin Streets, was run by Henry Henninges in the 19th century.The lane behind the factory still bears Henninges' name.
The building has been very sympathetically and respectfully restored, with small cracks and weathering bearing witness to its previous history,which is appropriate considering that its current occupier, 'Original Finish' specializes in antiques.
Henry Henninges Bakery in 1983

 The former 'Edward Brooks building had been occupied by squatters since about 2001.
The building had last changed hands (for a derisively small amount of money) in 1981. The owner apparently only lives a few blocks down the road, but allowed the property to rot, in a similar fashion to the Terminus Hotel and the Darling Island Bond and Free Store of Pyrmont. Landbanking played as an extreme sport.
Nature abhors a vacuum, so a variety of squatters and local community groups had apparently moved in.
They were forcibly evicted in a very heavy handed fashion by the riot squad on Thursday 31st July 2014.
The once-shunned building has now been bought for $1.7 million at a hotly contested auction and will now apparently be renovated rather than demolished. 

Saturday 2 March 2013

'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'

My solo exhibition 'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo' will be held at the Frances Keevil Gallery until 24th March 2013.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery

'Goat Island from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm Sold
The 'Hungry Mile''
2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122cm
Enquiries about these paintings
This exhibition will be the major event for Art Month, and will opened by Elizabeth Fortescue, Visual Arts Writer for The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 5th March 2013, 6 – 8pm.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery
'Wharf 6/7' 1999 oil on canvas 61 x 101cm
'Harbour Control Tower from Moore's Wharf ' 
2013 oil on canvas 51 x 25cm  Sold

'L3' Crane, with the 'Taiko'
2006 oil on canvas 51 x 25cm
'Barangaroo from Glebe Island' 2010
oil on canvas 31 x 61 cm  Sold
'The empty wharf from shed 6' 2008
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
'Interior, Wharf 8-9' 2000
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
'Night, from bridge of 'Maersk Gateshead'
2009 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm
'The 'Southern Cross'
2007 oil on canvas 31 x 92cm Sold
Enquiries about these paintings

plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery

'Yellow cranes from the cage'
2007 oil on canvas 153 x 61cm Sold
'Capitaine Tasman' + 'Caledonie Express' night
2007 oil on canvas 31x103cm
'The last call of the 'Tampa'
2007 oil on canvas 31x103cm
'Forklifts in the fog panorama'
2007 oil on canvas 31x103cm
'The Pacific Dawn with demolition of Shed 6'
2008 oil on canvas 31x103cm
Enquiries about these paintings

The gallery was still hanging the exhibition when these photos were taken.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery
'The Last of the Hungry Mile' 2007 oil on canvas 180 x 122cm
FINALIST : 2008 SULMAN PRIZE, ART GALLERY OF NSW
'Walsh Bay Wharves, Moore's Wharf and the Hungry Mile'
2002 oil on canvas 122 x 152cm
'Relics from the 'Dead House' 2007 oil on canvas 122 x 100cm

Enquiries about these paintings

The paintings show the transition of the former wharf, East Darling Harbour, known as the "Hungry Mile", to the construction site, Barangaroo.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery
'Sydney Harbour Panorama from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 153cm Sold

'Moore's Wharf from the bridge of 'Scholarship'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm Sold
Moore's Wharf, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Walsh Bay Wharves'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm Sold
'Wharf Skeleton' 2008 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
'The wharves and High St from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm"
'The Last of the Hungry Mile' 2007 oil on canvas 180 x 122cm
FINALIST : 2008 SULMAN PRIZE, ART GALLERY OF NSW
Enquiries about these paintings

I've had a ring-side seat to paint this fascinating area, courtesy of many businesses and private individuals, who had to put up with having a self-appointed "Artist in Residence" paint from their offices, shops, cafes or homes.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery

'Harbour Control Tower from Moore's Wharf '
2013 oil on canvas 51 x 25cm Sold
'L3' Crane, with 'Taiko' 2006
oil on canvas 51 x 25cm
'The 'Charlotte ' passing Goat Island 2011
oil on canvas 15 x 18cm Sold 
'Goat Island from Moore's Wharf' 2010
oil on canvas 45 x 91 cm
'High Street from the wharf' 2007
oil on canvas 31 x 41cm
'Forklifts in the fog' 2007
oil on canvas 31 x 41cm
Enquiries about these paintings

I've been able to create large-scale plein air canvases in the middle of the Barangaroo demolition site, from the top of the Harbour Control Tower and in Moore's Wharf, the headquarters of the Sydney Ports Corporation Emergency Response Tugs and Pilot Boats.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery
'Sydney Harbour Panorama from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 153cm Sold
Moore's Wharf from the bridge of the 'Scholarship'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm Sold
Moore's Wharf, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Walsh Bay Wharves'
2007 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm Sold
'Wharf Skeleton' 2008 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

'The wharves and High St from Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries about these paintings
These are the last outposts of maritime and industrial activity, once so familiar around Sydney Harbour.
plein air oil paintings of Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett at the Frances Keevil Gallery
'Wharf Skeleton' 2008 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

'The wharves and High St from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries about these paintings
 
See also my previous solo exhibition in 2011 at the Frances Keevil Gallery : "May Close without warning"


Related posts



The Last of the Hungry Mile

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island

This was the 60 year old work boat known as the Crane Lighter 'Poolya', up on stumps, waiting forlornly at Glebe Island Wharf.


plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Enquiries about this painting
Despite being added to the State’s Heritage Register in March 2009 by the then Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi, here the “Poolya” is waiting to be broken up.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

The 'Poolya', formerly known as the 'Kahibah', was built in 1949.
For a long time she was based at Goat Island.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















She was one of the vessels deployed to recover oil with her brush skimmer from the notorious 'Laura d'Amato' spill at Gore Cove on Wednesday 4th August 1999.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















I had been painting the renovation of the Walsh Bay Fingerwharves at the time of the Laura d'Amato incident. The smell of the spilt oil was utterly indescribable! I couldn't cope with the fumes and it was one of the few times that I had to go home without finishing my painting. I don't know how the men on board managed to handle it.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















Until 2012 the 'Poolya' was on standby at Moore's Wharf. 
When she was taken out of service with Sydney Ports Corporation the 'Poolya' was then given to the Sydney Heritage Fleet, who had originally intended to preserve her.
However the "Poolya" is a timber vessel, and all timber vessels are a lot of work. Eventually they get to the stage of requiring significant repair to keep them serviceable. This can rapidly spiral out of control. The 'Poolya', despite being regarded with great affection by the workers from Sydney Ports and the Sydney Heritage Fleet, had become commercially uneconomic.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

Enquiries about this painting
Sydney Ports Corporation have replaced her with a steel hulled vessel of a similar design concept, the 'Manns Point'.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
The finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

Enquiries about this painting
I was given the heads up by a couple of people at Sydney Ports who had a sentimental attachment to the 'Poolya'.
I arrived at the Glebe Island Operations Centre on Monday about noon and had this medium size canvas finished by the time the blokes wanted to knock off at 5.30pm.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat near the Sydney Harbour Bridge by artist Jane Bennett
'Poolya' from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 12 x 12cm
Enquiries about similar paintings
Sold
PRIVATE COLLECTION : SYDNEY
I had painted a couple of small canvases of the 'Poolya' in her glory days while she was still operational. A few of these were painted from my loft on the top floor of Sydney Ports Corporation's Emergency Response Headquarters at Moore's Wharf. These canvases usually have a spectacular view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as the historic workboat.
Some of my paintings were in the "tondo" format. A tondo is a canvas stretched over a round or oval stretcher frame.
Some of the Sydney Ports Corporation wharfies would jokingly ask me "When will you be painting another pizza, Jane ?"
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat near the Sydney Harbour Bridge by artist Jane Bennett
 'Poolya' from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
SOLD

PRIVATE COLLECTION : SYDNEY
Enquiries about similar paintings
When the 'Poolya' was broken up, a couple of contractors managed to souvenir the portholes.
So these 2 'Poolya' tondos ended up being framed behind these portholes and are now cherished trophies in some canny collector's living room.

Related posts

Storm warning, Goat Island (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)