My Paintings at the Sydney Open : Part 1

My exhibition: "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo"
Foyer of LendLease 30,'The Bond',
30 Hickson Road, Millers Point

Paintings of Barangaroo at Sydney Open - 30, The Bond
From left to right:
top : 'Relics from the Dead House 2' 2007 oil on canvas 91 x 61 cm
bottom left: "Hungry Dinosaurs" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46 cm
bottom right: "Grabber, Muncher,Ripper" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
top: "I saw the number '8' in red" 2010 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm SOLD
centre: :"Red Square (Arrivals Hall) 2010 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
bottom left: "The drill rig" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 36cm
bottom right: "Red Square" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 36cm
top left:"8 (ate)" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm SOLD
top right: "Dig it! (The archaeologists)"2010 oil on canvas 31 x 15cm SOLD
centre: "Storm warning, Barangaroo" 2010 oil on canvas 91 x 122cm SOLD
bottom left: "The last gantry" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm SOLD
bottom right: "Pump it! (The 'Watertank')" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 41cm
Enquiries about these and other paintings


top :"2 cranes" 2006 oil on canvas 41 x 51cm
below: "Boat Lift" 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122cm
top left: "The tug "Karoo"" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
top right: :"The tug "Woona" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
below: "The 'Tamerlane' after rain" 2005 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries about these and other paintings

A small selection of my paintings of the East Darling Harbour Wharves and their transformation into the Barangaroo precinct were exhibited for one day only on Sunday 7th November 2010, in the foyer of the LendLease Headquarters in '30, The Bond' directly opposite the Barangaroo site itself.
On the same day a selection of my Pyrmont paintings were also exhibited in the foyer of 'Workplace6', headquarters of Google, and 2 of Paul Signorelli's new restaurants, 'Biaggio' and 'Gastronomia'.
In these photos, my paintings of Barangaroo are displayed in front of the spectacular escarpment wall of yellowblock sandstone, catching the dying embers of the afternoon sun.
I borrowed the "A" frame easels from John Sweaney of ASMA (The Australian Society of Marine Artists) and put my entire black ankle sock collection on their feet to prevent the floor being scratched!

This exhibition consisted of a total of 24 paintings crammed onto 8 easels. The larger canvases perched on the crossbars and the smaller ones tied to the top and bottom legs by cable ties. Not an ideal situation, aesthetically, but not bad under the circumstances.

Painting plein air on the
Barangaroo construction site 
"Storm warning, Barangaroo" 2010
oil on canvas 91 x 122cm SOLD

Until a few days beforehand, I didn't even know if I'd be able to show my work at all.

The question of how to display paintings and what to display them on became the problem. Finally how to transport easels and paintings to 2 locations; one in Pyrmont, one in the CBD. Canvases and paintings could not be taken in the same car at the same time, or there was a good chance of piercing the canvases with an easel leg. Both '30, The Bond' and 'Workplace6' have majestic interiors with high ceilings and the paintings could be overwhelmed. Fortunately I received a great deal of help from the people at the Historic Houses Trust and my dealer Frances Keevil. They all arrived early on the Sunday and mastered the arcane mysteries of hanging paintings with cable ties in record time.

Related posts

 2014 solo exhibition "Under the Hammer"
2011 solo exhibition "May close without warning"
Barangaroo : Red Square, the Drill Rig and a little archaeology

My Paintings at the Sydney Open Part 2

Recently sold paintings at Workplace 6

Beyond the Sea

Invitation to an exhibition:

'Beyond the Sea' 

: an exhibition held by the Sydney Heritage Fleet and ASMA, The Australian Society of Marine Artists.

Opening night : Friday 26th November 2010 6 - 8pm

Wharf 7, Pirrama Road, Pyrmont 2009

Opening night admission : $10

RSVP Friday 19th November : please call (02) 9298 3888

The exhibition continues until 12th December

Hours 10am - 3pm

Admission free on all other days except for opening night

 Donation to the Sydney Heritage Fleet
I am donating this painting - it will be raffled and all proceeds are being donated to the Sydney Heritage Fleet

'The Tall Ship 'James Craig' at Darling Harbour' 
2003  oil on paper 48 x 37 cm

This is painted opposite Wharf 7, the  headquarters of the Sydney Heritage Fleet.

  My Paintings will be for sale in the exhibition at Wharf 7, Headquarters of the Sydney Heritage Fleet

I will be one of the featured artists in this exhibition as my paintings depict historic moments in the development of both Pyrmont and Barangaroo.

"Pyrmont and Miller's Point from the roof of Pyrmont Power station"  1993 

oil on canvas 91 x 122 cm

Enquiries about these and other Pyrmont, Millers Point, East Darling Harbour Wharves and Barangaroo paintings:

janecooperbennett@gmail.com

This canvas was painted from the roof of the old Pyrmont Power Station, now replaced by Star City Casino.The pile of rubble in the centre is an old signal box in the Pyrmont Goods Yard, the 'Spanish Cafe' in Baz Luhrman's classic Australian film 'Strictly Ballroom'. The bright red ship in the background is the notorious 'Tampa'! 

In the early 1980's,when I first started to paint in Pyrmont, the building in the centre of this painting was the site of Pier 13, where so many immigrantss first set foot on Australian soil. It was still connected to Jones Bay Road by an elegant land bridge. Later Pier 13 became the temporary casino, was painted a hideous shade of yellow and the land bridge was demolished. Pier 13 has since been replaced by 'Workplace6', home of 'Google' and Paul Signorelli's restaurants 'Gastronomia' and 'Biaggio'.

 Curving under the bridge is the old Pyrmont goods line, built in 1916, which looped through Darling Harbour and around Pyrmont across Wentworth Park and beyond. At vast expense, this goods line was torn up and replaced by the dubious benefit of light rail.

I have painted Pyrmont's metamorphosis from an industrial wasteland to a media and entertainment hub over a 30 year period. I painted from dozens of business and residential premises, painting panoramas of the dramatically changing urban landscape from rooftops, chimneys, demolition sites and even the summit of the half completed Anzac Bridge.

I will exhibit some of my Barangaroo paintings in this venue,showing the area's exciting transition from a working port to the preparations for its transformation into Sydney's new cultural and economic hub. I have been 'Artist in Residence' at Barangaroo since the early 2000's, compiling an archive of all the changes and so far I've maintained my position throughout the area's change of owners. I was granted unprecedented access to paint this area as a working port by Sydney Ports Corporation, Patrick Corporation and P & O. Now I am starting to paint the demolition and construction activities at Barangaroo South.

'Barangaroo when it was a working port-The yard from the port captain's office'

2007 oil on canvas 91 x 122 cm

Enquiries about these and other Millers Point, East Darling Harbour Wharves and Barangaroo paintings:

janecooperbennett@gmail.com

This is Barangaroo as it used to be as a working port. Compare this painting with the empty wharf paintings that follow. Jeffrey Smart, eat your heart out!

'The empty wharf'2007 oil painting on canvas 100 x 122cm

Enquiries about these and other Millers Point, East Darling Harbour Wharves and Barangaroo paintings:

janecooperbennett@gmail.com

The 2 horizontal paintings were painted from the same viewpoint exactly 1 year apart.

'The Harbour Control Tower from the Hungry Mile' 
2008 oil on canvas 183 x 122cm.

Enquiries about these and other Millers Point, East Darling Harbour Wharves and Barangaroo paintings:

janecooperbennett@gmail.com

This canvas was painted as soon as the wharfies had left.
While the wharf was still operational I would never have been allowed to paint here as it was far too dangerous. Forklifts used to constantly whip in and out, and there was a deafening alarm that would go off when they did. I had earmarked this spot for an iconic painting as soon as I arrived. 
The doorway frames the Sydney Harbour Tower, the bond stores and the quirky architecture of the heritage Palisade Hotel perched on the golden sandstone escarpment to perfection.

Related articles

• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
• We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street

• My exhibition at the Sydney Open (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)
• Something old-Something New- Some paintings at Barangaroo (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)

Watch Paint Dry : My painting of the 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show'

'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' 
2010 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
$2,000
Sold
Enquiries about similar paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

I started painting this 'en plein air' at the 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' at the Australian National Maritime Museum' on Saturday 16th October despite the having to huddle up to a garbage bin to shelter from the gusts of wind. 

It was more of a demonstration to help direct notice to the exhibition of marine art inside the Museum by the members of ASMA (the Australian Society of Marine Artists) than a serious attempt to produce a work of art in public. 

By Sunday, however, the weather had settled down enough to actually get some paint on the canvas instead of myself and passers-by.  

I had to add details like some of the flags at home, and spruce it up a bit by removing hairs and lumps of grit that had stuck to the wet paint.

I didn't have much choice of subject matter, due to the gusts of wind that threatened to send my easel cartwheeling up and down the wharf.

 As I couldn't find a position to be able to paint one of the boats in all its glory, I decided to paint the atmosphere of the festival itself. This was challenging as the canvas became dotted with little unrelated vignettes as people who I had started to paint moved around.

The result was that I ended up painting mini portraits of some of the stall holders, as they moved around a bit less.

Detail of 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' 2010 
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 'The Boat Builders ('Denman Marine')'
$2,000
Sold
Enquiries about similar paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

These are 'Denman Marine'a trio of boat builders from Tasmania. 

 

Detail of 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' 2010
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
'The Musicians' 
$2,000
Sold
Enquiries about similar paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

A trio of jazz musicians in lairy fluoro suits were milling around.

Detail of 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' 2010 
oil painting on canvas 31 x 61cm 
'Hydralign Feathering Propellers'
$2,000
Sold
Enquiries about similar paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

A customer inspecting one of the 'Hydralign Feathering Propellers' on display.

Detail of 'Classic and Wooden Boat Show' 2010
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
'Seatow'
$2,000
Sold
Enquiries about similar paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

The team from 'Seatow' demonstrated rope tricks to impress the customers.

Related posts in this blog:

• Marine Art Exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)
• Artist in residence at Maritime Museum (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

The Navigator and the King

These 2 paintings will be exhibited in the Laperouse Museum until January 2011.

They were inspired by meditation on the unpredictable nature of history, exploration and the fate of nations.

They are memento mori paintings in the tradition of 17th and 18th century still life 'vanitas' paintings.

The portrait of the gallant yet doomed La Perouse receiving his commission from his equally ill-fated monarch is doubly ironic.

The antipodean voyage of La Perouse was personally planned by the king together with the explorer. The loss of La Perouse and his expedition caused Louis XVI both personal grief and political humiliation.

'La Perouse - the navigator and the King'
2010 oil on canvas 46 x 46cm
Enquiries about this painting

Louis XVI sought to reinvigorate the stagnating French economy through trade and had invested a great deal of the government finances into improving the French Navy.

This was both a personal and a political goal.

His private study was filled with nautical charts and the burnished brass of mathematical instruments, telescopes, sextants and the locks which the King himself designed and made.

Louis XVI desperately wanted to regain the colonial power and prestige lost by his grandfather in the Seven Year’s War. Most of the debt burdening his government was from French involvement in the revolt of the American colonies against Britain.

A radical program of naval reconstruction was undertaken by first Turgot, then Sartine and finally de Castries. These brilliant, though fiscally irresponsible men attempted to transform the French navy into the equal of the British fleet, but heroic projects such as the transformation of Cherbourg harbour came at a ruinous price.

La Perouse - 'The Art of Navigation'
2010 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries about this painting

It was a real 'Sliding Doors' moment.

If Governor Philip and all his ships had been lost at sea and instead La Perouse had made a triumphant return to France after adding the continent of Australia to France’s extensive colonial empire, what could have been the outcome?

Would Australia have been settled by French colonists or become a battleground between the French and British Empires as Canada had been?

If La Perouse’s expedition had ended in a blaze of glory, would the good publicity have sufficiently enhanced the reputation of the monarchy to withstand the economic and social pressures that resulted in the anarchy of the Revolution?

Now that the exhibition in the LaPerouse Museum has finished, I'm going to enter "The Art of Navigation" in the Camden Art Prize.

It's far too strange to win, it'll just confuse the judges.

But I feel like being brave.

And it will certainly stand out in the crowd.

Update : It was runner-up!

See my blog post "Keep your eyes on the prize and your finger off the trigger!"

Related posts

My New Still life Paintings of Antique Navigation Instruments

The Art of Navigation