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WB2 'Ned Kelly Crane Woolloomooloo Bay'
1987 oil on board 59 x 24cm
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One of a pair of cranes that was at Woolloomooloo Bay until late 1989.
I don't know its real name, but I always called it the 'Ned Kelly' Crane The two windows have a baleful stare reminding me of Sid Nolan's paintings of the notorious outlaw.
It was removed and taken to East Darling Harbour Wharf 8, until it was replaced by 'Big Bird' (Liebherr crane 1) and later 2 other cranes, in the early 1990s.
I loved watching the Woolloomooloo Bay Cranes from a long skinny window at the north-eastern end of the Art Gallery of N.S.W. This room contained Australian paintings from the 1940's to the 1960's, and the cranes were a wonderful backdrop to the dour images of wharfies by Noel Counihan, Jeffrey Smart's urban landscapes, - and appropriately, a few Sid Nolans.
Redevelopment of the Fingerwharf
After staying derelict for several decades, the Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf and the former dockyard were re-developed into a complex of hotels, luxury apartments, restaurants and marinas between 1997 - 1999.
The Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf and Walsh Bay Wharves symbolized Sydney as a working port and have become yet another victim of urban consolidation, either demolished or redeveloped into apartments for the benefit of the urban elite.
Redevelopment of the Fingerwharf
After staying derelict for several decades, the Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf and the former dockyard were re-developed into a complex of hotels, luxury apartments, restaurants and marinas between 1997 - 1999.
The Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf and Walsh Bay Wharves symbolized Sydney as a working port and have become yet another victim of urban consolidation, either demolished or redeveloped into apartments for the benefit of the urban elite.
The Sydney Fingerwharves were built of turpentine, which would be impossible today as the forests are gone.
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'The Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf from Harry de Wheels'
1999 acrylic on canvas 25 x 20 cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com |
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'Interior, Fingerwharf'
1998 charcoal drawing on paper 104 x 122cm FINALIST - 2000 Grafton Drawing Prize
Enquiries :janecooperbennett@gmail.com COLLECTION : RELEGEN DOCKYARDS 
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'Crane, Fingerwharf' 1999
Oil on board 27.5x 37.5 cm
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'Tower Crane 6 ' 1999 oil on canvas 61 x 30 cm
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'Interior, Fingerwharf, with reflections'
1998 Oil on board 28 x 34cm
Enquiries :janecooperbennett@gmail.com Rusting machinery,
shadowed stairways and fragile bridges arching over the cavernous
interior evoked the atmosphere of Piranesi’s “Carceri” etchings. The central street of the Fingerwhar By coincidence |
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'Interior, Fingerwharf ' 1999
oil on canvas 30 x 15 cm
Enquiries :janecooperbennett@gmail.com That the location was real, not imaginary, & at the decisive point of transformation, added poignancy.
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'Interior, Fingerwharf' 1999
Oil on board 122 x 41cm
Enquiries :janecooperbennett@gmail.com
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I chose a haunting moment of stillness amidst the construction turmoil.
A shaft of light pierced the darkness while bulldozers lurked at the entrance.
The floor was continually hosed to damp down the construction dust, so that it would reflect patches of sky and the gaudy vermilion of the workmen’s fluoro vests.
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