Current

REW HANKS

THE CATCH OF THE DAY

CURRENT TO 29 APRIL 2018

RECEPTION 5PM, SATURDAY 14 APRIL 2018

ARTIST STATEMENT

Rew Hanks visited Iceland for three months in early 2017. This exhibition reflects the artist’s concerns of the effect of climate change on the regions within the Arctic Rim. The seventeen hand coloured linocuts in this exhibition depict the dramatic decline of the puffin populations of Iceland caused by the warming of the ocean currents. Many fish populations have been drastically altered resulting in the starvation of several generations of baby puffins. Hanks also depicts the imbalance of marine ecosystems in the North Atlantic Sea caused by the high density of plastic pollutants.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Printmaker and teacher Rew Hanks has held solo exhibitions since 1982 in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and internationally in India. His work has been included in international group exhibitions in Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States. Hanks has a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, University of Sydney. Internationally, Hanks has been awarded the Triennale Print Prize in the 4th Bangkok Triennale International Print and Drawing, Bangkok, Thailand (2015); First Prize in the 9th Kochi International Triennial Exhibition of Prints, Kochi, Japan (2014); First Prize in the IV International Print Exhibition 2011, Istanbul, Turkey (2011) and Grand Prize in the 8th Bharat Bhavan International Biennal of Print-Art, Bhopal, India (2008). Nationally, Hanks has been awarded First Prize, in the City of Hobart Art Prize (2014), Grand Prize in the Open Section, Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Melbourne (2013) and First Prize in the Geelong Print Prize, Geelong, Victoria (2008). Hanks has been a finalist in the Blake Prize (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010) and the Basil Sellers Prize 5 at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (2016). His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and several significant regional and tertiary collections

EXHIBITION WORKS

: Rew Hanks
Sunrise Over Vestrahorn
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
140 x 50 cm
$1,800 unframed, $2,400 framed

Rew Hanks
The Arrival
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Inga and Oskar are standing outside their burrow feeling very pleased with themselves. They are now the proud parents of a fluffy female puffling. They have called her Asta. Early in the spring they came ashore with hundreds of other puffins to build a home on a tiny volcanic island off the south coast of Iceland. Using his bill and sharp claws, Oskar had dug a new burrow tunnelling about a metre into the hillside. At the end of the burrow he made a large chamber where Inga fashioned a comfy nest from stuff she had collected – dried grass, seaweed and feathers. Then she laid her egg. For six weeks Inga and Oskar shared the job of incubating and protecting their precious egg. While one parent kept the egg warm, the other stood guard against intruders at the burrow entrance.

Rew Hanks
The Catch of the Day
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

At sunrise on the morning Asta hatches Oskar and Inga venture down the hillside. Now they have to find food for baby Asta. Oskar is going fishing for the first big catch of the day. Asta will need little fish that are easy to swallow. Sandeels, thinks Oskar, will be perfect. For a moment they stand still, taking in the scene. An old wooden fishing boat is returning from a night of fishing; a pod of minke whales drifts past; a woolly brown Icelandic sheep grazes peacefully on flowering clover. Then loud squawking from other puffins in the colony rouses them to action. Oskar takes to the sky and Inga hurries back to their burrow to watch over Asta.

Rew Hanks
Entanglement
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Inga, in her haste to get back to Asta, takes the most direct route. She walks straight under Helga, the Icelandic sheep. Helga is concentrating on the clover. She has been cooped up in an overcrowded barn all winter, sheltering from the snow and freezing winds. Tired of her winter diet of soggy hay, she is enjoying the fresh clover as a delicious change. Preoccupied with her breakfast, Helga doesn’t notice Inga’s feathers becoming caught in her shaggy wool. She nearly tramples her. After a panicky moment Inga frees herself from Helga’s scratchy fleece and hurries home to watch over her new puffling.

Rew Hanks
A Powerful Predator
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

As she arrives at the entrance of her burrow, frantic squawking above attracts Inga’s attention. Looking up she witnesses a terrible scene. Oskar is desperately trying to escape the crushing beak of a great skua. These big birds often steal fish from the beaks of puffins and sometimes they even attack young puffins like Oskar. Scurrying into the shelter of her burrow, Inga is sad. She thinks she may never see Oskar again.

Rew Hanks
Free Fall
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Oskar manages to break free from the clutches of the great skua, but loses his balance and begins to free-fall. He is falling so fast he can’t tell which way is up or which way is down. If only, he thinks, I can crash into the water, I’ll be okay because I can swim.

Rew Hanks
Impact
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

But the hillside, not the water is looming towards him. In the nick of time he regains his balance and avoids disaster, but he still hits the ground beak-first with a huge thud. Relieved to have escaped uninjured, but still shaken, Oskar has no idea where he is. Disoriented he plunges into the closest burrow hoping to be safe from other predators.

Rew Hanks
The Intruder
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

But as his eyes adjust to the gloom inside the burrow, Oskar squawks in shock. Another creature is blocking his way. It is Ragnor the rabbit. Ragnor might not be a predator, but he is not happy to have an intruder in his burrow. Impatiently he explains to Oskar that this burrow has been his home for many years. It has several deep tunnels and two entrances. It is quite unsuitable for puffins. Embarrassed, Oskar reverses awkwardly out of Ragnor’s home.

Rew Hanks
The Intruder
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Regaining his composure, Oskar continues his quest to find a big catch for baby Asta. For a long time he flies high in the sky over the ocean looking for ripples forming on the water’s surface. This is the sign that tells him schools of fish are swimming there. Tiring from his search, he scouts for a place to land and rest. He notices a small colony of puffins standing on a hillside, so Oskar heads down to land. Too late he remembers his parents’ warnings about small groups of motionless puffins. They might be painted wooden decoy puffins set up by humans to lure unsuspecting puffins; to trick them into thinking it is safe to land.

Rew Hanks
The Intruder
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Suddenly Oskar finds himself struggling in a net at the end of a long pole that has come down over him with lightning speed. A human has been hiding on the hillside. The more Oskar struggles, the more he becomes entangled. He scratches, pecks and flaps furiously, but to no avail. The man is deftly disentangling him from the net. Then the man’s hands close around him. Gripping him so tightly. Crushing his chest. He can hear his own tiny heart pounding.

Rew Hanks
The First Catch of the Season
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

The man’s giant hands gather Oskar’s flapping wings together as if he is trying to calm him. Then he raises Oskar up to his face and looks him right in the eye. Just as Oskar thinks he is done for – is going to be swallowed whole, like a big catch of the day – the hands release him. There’s an Icelandic tradition amongst humans that says if you let your first catch go at the start of puffin-hunting season, it will bring you good luck. Oskar doesn’t know it, but he is this man’s first catch. This human tradition brings Oskar good luck. He is freed. With new resolve he returns to his quest.

Rew Hanks
A Patch of Turbulent Sea
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Flying high, Oskar notices a small flock of puffins hovering over a patch of turbulent sea. This looks promising. Plunging with as much force as he can muster, he hits the water in a sharp dive. He is an excellent swimmer. His wings are short and powerful. Underwater they become fins. He uses his large webbed feet like a rudder to steer himself through the water. Oskar knows he has to dive as deep as he can and catch as many fish as possible in under a minute because his breath will only last that long. Diving deeper he notices the water seems unusually warm.

Rew Hanks
The First Catch of the Season
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Nearing the ocean floor, Oskar is dismayed at the scene before him. A discarded car tyre, glass bottles, metal cans and many, many plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes litter the sea floor. Above this wreckage, hundreds of plastic bags drift where he had once seen jellyfish peacefully floating. And to add to his disappointment, the ocean is no longer teeming with large schools of sandeels. In their place are much bigger, fast-moving mackerel. In the last few seconds of his breath he manages to catch one solitary over-sized mackerel.

Rew Hanks
Slow Delivery
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

Inga has watched for Oskar’s return with a growing sense of doom. When she does eventually see Oskar flying towards her, she is relieved and excited. Increasingly frantic chirps coming from inside the burrow have added to her anxiety as she has paced back and forth. It has been an extremely long wait for a very hungry Asta. To Inga’s surprise Oskar’s beak holds only a single oversized fish instead of a dozen small sandeels.

Rew Hanks
Slow Delivery
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

By now a huge racket of cheeps is coming from the burrow chamber. Inga takes the mackerel from Oskar and carries it in her beak to her noisy little grey ball of fluff. Dropping the big fish at Asta’s tiny feet, Inga sees immediately that there is a problem. Pufflings are always fed whole fish. Asta pecks and pecks at it and in her frustration, she even stomps on it. The mackerel is just far too big, oily and tough for her to eat. Oskar will have to try again. He decides to fly further out to sea in the hope of finding some smaller herring for her to eat. The supply of fish in the ocean has changed since he was a puffling and Oskar starts to realise they will have to adapt.

Rew Hanks
The First Catch of the Season
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

By now a huge racket of cheeps is coming from the burrow chamber. Inga takes the mackerel from Oskar and carries it in her beak to her noisy little grey ball of fluff. Dropping the big fish at Asta’s tiny feet, Inga sees immediately that there is a problem. Pufflings are always fed whole fish. Asta pecks and pecks at it and in her frustration, she even stomps on it. The mackerel is just far too big, oily and tough for her to eat. Oskar will have to try again. He decides to fly further out to sea in the hope of finding some smaller herring for her to eat. The supply of fish in the ocean has changed since he was a puffling and Oskar starts to realise they will have to adapt.

Rew Hanks
The First Catch of the Season
2018
Hand coloured linocut, edition 50
30 x 60 cm
$1,000 unframed, $1,400 framed

By now a huge racket of cheeps is coming from the burrow chamber. Inga takes the mackerel from Oskar and carries it in her beak to her noisy little grey ball of fluff. Dropping the big fish at Asta’s tiny feet, Inga sees immediately that there is a problem. Pufflings are always fed whole fish. Asta pecks and pecks at it and in her frustration, she even stomps on it. The mackerel is just far too big, oily and tough for her to eat. Oskar will have to try again. He decides to fly further out to sea in the hope of finding some smaller herring for her to eat. The supply of fish in the ocean has changed since he was a puffling and Oskar starts to realise they will have to adapt.