Eastern Suburbs Art Group

These delightful colour paintings are so lovely and diverse. They suggest a landscape (they're done plein air I think I remember) but they are much more than that. I went to this show with Virginia. Some of the paintings (like the ones shown in the photo above) are small but others were quite large. Personally I think these work best in the smaller format. As studies in the effects that colour have the paintings are suggestive. The eye draws conclusions as it roams over the rough surface of the canvas. the roughness is an aspect of the impasto paint. There is a lot in these  works to consider and Mulholland's show expressed to me once again what a great range of artists we have in Sydney.

It was a good program. I arrived early and met Virginia a bit later. Juno Gemes was there to launch her new book of photographs (see below). Also present was Linda Burney. I reserved two copies of the book. There were two musical acts including Ceffie (see below) who is 17 and has a great voice. Very nice songs. A panel with two Anglo figures including Malcolm Knox and some guy from Newcastle University. These two were overshadowed by Koraly Demitriades who unlike the men has original ideas.

This was actually two trips. One day I went down with my friend Basia. Some of the works were better than others. I liked these shell Harbour bridges by Marilyn Russell. There was also a room full of works by Julie Mehretu and Jessica Rankin (see below). Some of these works were collages using words, so obviously I liked them immediately because my own work often involves such elements. I went back another day to figure out the name Julie Rrap, whose works are in different rooms. I found out later from Virginia that Rrap is the sister of Mike Parr. Rrap's works are of two types. in one room there is a movie and a charcoal drawing of a body outline. The body is the body being shown in the movie. In a different room are a series of panels showing Rrap's body. I liked these panels less than the movie. The movie is interesting because of the nature of the femal body with its soft lines and occlusions.

I went with friends Ming and Omer, as well as basia. We looked around the enormous collecion of works. I had certainly never seen so many Magritte works in one place at the same time. The show includes things such as the artist's early attempts at Cubism (see below). Obviously this is nothing like what we normally associate with the name magritte. It is awkward and derivative. Basia told me Margritte changed when he saw works by Giorgio de Chiricho. Now that's more like it. I had a great time. The show is immense and important. 

Remember taking this photo of one of the feature poets. As usual a pleasant evening, though it seems like a lifetime ago. How is it that the days are so full I have trouble remembering what happened a week ago. The theme for November was "love" and I read out a sonnet written origianlly in 2013. Funny how I remember that time more vividly than I do last week. The year 2013 I lived still in  Qld a prisoner of circumstance. Cyclone Oswald made its way down the coast from The Gulf of Carpentaria to the Hunter River in New South Wales. Horizontal rain. Days of rain. Anyway the day I wrote the poem it was Australia Day. I did some edits later on but most of the poem was written on that day in 2013. Not a lifetime ago. A different life. Leaving Queensland does that to you haha. It must've been 2008 that dad took me into his bedroom in the flat and showed me a map of the state on the back of the door. That conversation stands out because it was proobably one of the only times in...

For a change I went to this show with Omer and Ming, friends of long standing. I hadn't been to this gallery for a while. Fairbairn has a sort of Francis Bacon vibe but he also reminded me of Kevin Connor (represented by Liverpool St Gallery). I'd seen Connor some time before in the context of perhaps buying a work.  I heard froma  man in a green jacket I met at the show that Fairbairn was originally English and migrated to Australia. I don't know if this is true.  I quite like his work. I didn't in the end buy any of the Connor drawings. The aesthetic is sort of 90s street grunge, and I kinda appreciate what these artists are trying to do but it's not where my heart tlies.

This show has finished but the prints Stein makes are memorable. I bought one and sent to Japan to family, where it has arrived. Stein is a superior craftswoman, as can easily be seen in this portraidt of the last buttonholer in Sydney. Stein's subject matter is intriguing, I didn't really find an easily rcognisable pattern and this diffuse quality is emblematic for me of the show as a whole. The picture I got is below, it's got a window with a view and a fruit bowl. Stein will be at a pop-up space this Friday if anyone would like to see her works first-hand. Stein also provides cheaper access to images in the form of gift cards.