ALUN LEACH-JONES EXHIBITED AT ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Alun Leach-Jones ‘Through the eye of the needle’ 1986, is exhibited in Naala Badu, lower level 1. The art of Alun Leach-Jones is unique in the history of Australian abstraction. The Welsh born artist’s early training in manuscript illumination in Liverpool, his appreciation of Matissean colour-driven form and exposure to New American Painting at the Tate in 1959 were significant influences. After migrating in 1960 to Australia, a singular language of geometric abstraction comprised of exacting formal rigour directed by colour and its emotional resonance emerged. His reputation cemented in the National Gallery of Victoria’s The Field exhibition of 1968, Leach-Jones based himself in Sydney from 1977. ‘Through the eye of the needle’ demonstrates the artist’s later loosening of coloured geometric components into more playful and layered interactions.