NEWS
Australia’s oldest artist remains at the canvas, reaching a century By John McDonald April 8, 2021 — 5.00am Australia’s oldest working artist, Guy Warren, is getting tired of being asked: “What’s the secret of a long life?” His answer is very simple: “You just have to keep living.” When Warren gets down to detail he says it’s a matter of “good genes, good luck and a whiskey every night”. Beyond that he doesn’t know what on earth he did to find himself turning 100. As we go deeper into the subject it’s agreed the two golden rules might be: “Don’t sit…
Wendy Stavrianos: Paintings from a room Wendy Stavrianos has a distinctive artistic vision – an artistic personality that is authentic, unique and identifiable from twenty paces and one that is impossible to confuse with the work of any other artist. Her art is deeply autobiographic and consists of symbols and motifs that she has gathered over a lifetime and, with her guidance, it is sometimes possible to decipher the etymology of some of her symbols. However, her art is not illustrative of a personal narrative but alludes to broad, universal themes. As one of her favourite writers, Jorge Luis Borges,…
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Berlin-based Australian painter Arryn Snowball has recently worked with poets, dancers and musicians. Collaboration is intrinsic to his creative process. “A big part of art is sharing it with others. Painting is not only art while someone is looking at is; that is already a collaboration between the artist and audience,” Snowball explains. “I put my trust in process and follow where it leads. Process is at the heart of abstract painting.” Part of this process is keeping an open studio. “I open my studio door to a friend and they step into my practice. They bring their practice with…
Photography: Lisa Sorgini Amber Wallis carefully balances colour and stroke, always creating something compositionally beautiful and alluring. We were lucky enough to ask her a few questions about her paintings and consequently got to know a little bit more about herself. Wallis as a person is open, considerate and thoughtful, and knowing this about her we can only appreciate the reflective and personal nature of her art even more. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into painting? I grew up in New Zealand, my family grew weed and bartered services on Waiheke and…
In Kylie Banyard’s newest paintings the mood is simultaneously mystical, technicolour, strangely nostalgic and enduringly hopeful. While her latest oil and acrylic works emerged from interests in the experimental American art school Black Mountain College, which in the mid-20th century emphasised holistic learning, this isn’t necessarily clear. Yet the aura of the influence is apparent, particularly in the most compelling paintings that depict women working together in acts of toil and farming, their skin tinged by vivid pinks and blues, blending into the environment in which they work. Existing in luminous lighting, the women’s movements are choreographed in ways that…
GUY WARREN EXHIBITED IN SALON DES REFUSÉS AT S. H. ERVIN GALLERY & FEATURED IN SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize which were not selected for display in the official exhibition, as well as works not selected for the Wynne Prize. Exhibition current to 29 November. . ‘Guy Warren, who is 99 this year – the same age as the Archibald Prize – had a small watercolour…’ from exhibition review by John McDonald in the Sydney Morning Herald . Image Detail of Guy Warren ‘Orange walk with dead trees’ 2020 illustrated in The Sydney Morning Herald
Philjames is a finalist in the 2020 Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales . Image Philjames The General Lee (1984–2018) 2020 oil on archival pigment print on cotton rag (colour photograph from artist’s personal archive) 110.5 x 162.5 cm . ‘This is a photo of my siblings and me watching ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ when we were little. On screen is ‘The General Lee’, which at the time I just thought was a dope car with a cool pattern on the roof (the confederate flag), completely unaware of American/world history and equally unaware of…