John Peart

Moment 1, 2011

oil on canvas

175 x 175 cm

John Peart, one of Australia's best contemporary abstract painters, is having a show of his latest crop of paintings, some of which faithfully reference his very beautiful series of collages from 2010.  Large, bold and rhythmic, these paintings are so intriguing for their scope and also for their simple and direct freshness. Literally I feel like these paintings pulse on the walls. See what I wrote about Peart's work in 2009 here. If you are in Sydney the show opens tonight at Watters Gallery and continues on until the 9th July 2011. Well worth a look!

Michael Voss

Jacqueline, 2010

oil on linen
39x33 cm

Construction in Planes, 2007

oil on linen

36x31cm

Fenelus, 2011

oil on linen

39x34cm

Micheal Voss' paintings invite contemplation. Deceptively simple, they make you wonder how they were made. What I see are colour combinations, usually analogous hues (indigo and violet, various tones of rust red for example)  placed together so that they literally vibrate. Although speaking a similar language each painting offers a different exploration of the figure ground relationship through a building up of tenuous, off-kilter structures. Blocks of flat colour cover or reveal so that we see patchy after-images or deliciously discordant  shape placements. Voss talks about complexity and simplicity concurrently, as if striving for one opens the door to the possibilities of the other "where simplicity dissolves into complexity- what is that boundary? That always interests me".  These little paintings are like beautiful objects and they plumb the depths of painting that really sustains. Read an interview with Michael Voss here.

Australian artists in London

Anthony White

Corroboration, 2011

Mixed media on handmade cotton paper

78x58cm

At COMODAA (Contemporary Modern Australian Art) this month is a show featuring, among others, the Australian painter Anthony White. 'Young Guns summer show', features seven amazingly talented young Australian artists:- Jane Fontane, Zoe MacDonnell, Juz Kitson, Vexta, Erin Smith and Linton Meagher. It's very exciting to see acknowledgement of the great talent we have here in Australia. The show runs from 20th - 26th June so if you're lucky enough to be in the vicinity drop in and have a look. Here is what Jonathon White, director of COMODAA has to say:

.... “We’ve had great success to date bringing established Australian artists to the UK and Europe,” says White, “but there’s a bunch of undiscovered talent on the other side of the world that I think will excite and intrigue a British audience”.

It was during a recent trip back to Sydney earlier this year to discuss plans with those artists he already represents that White came across this new crop of talent, “Every time I go back I see more opportunities, more potential, more creativity…and this show is all about that.

“Each one of these artists is unique and exciting and is pushing boundaries. Each one has a story to tell and each one is already on the cusp of great acclaim back home in Aus. Here is a chance for them to get ahead of the game in the UK, to get out there and, hopefully, get people talking.”