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.
"Wharf Skeleton" 2008 charcoal on paper 76 x 110cm
WINNER: 2008 DRAWING PRIZE ROYAL EASTER SHOW
Enquiries about this painting
"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.
'"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
'Red Square' oil on canvas 36 x 36cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings
'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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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
Enquiries info@franceskeevilgallery.com.au
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