Eastern Suburbs Art Group

To get to this show took weeks of effort. Things kept cropping up. Events got sheduled. At last a friend agreed to go with me and I was able to find two days running. These larger paintings are huga and really probably will only work in a public setting. I have seen Dober's smalol works up close before but this was the first time in a while I had seen the multi panel works in real life. I think I had seen some in Windsor years earlier. They shimmer and dance. They seem to move. They are engrossing and complex. They do more than an artwork is ucually expected to do. They entrance. There was a small group of people there when I came to the front entrance from my car. The people asked if I was in the drawing group. I said no. Many Australiuan towns have a big something. Taree has the big oyster in the Kia sales yard. I thought about my ruthless will in organising the trip. In fact I felt like a big oyster. But I made it happen. Actually the big oyster is grotesque. As if the builders ...

With the Tree Veneration Society I was in a parade in Berry last month. Berry is a sort of small town with one street and two pubs, so typically Australian. In the parade we all wore bird masks. The parade was led by the Femmes Fatales. I stayed in a motel with two cockroaches and no charge cord for the phone. To charge the phone I sat in the car for two hours in the carpark. It was my fault the charge cord was missing I had forgotten to pack one. There was also a workshop led by some people from Sydney. I'm not sure what it's about but something to do with writing to MPs regarding climate change. Actually after getting back to Sydney I planned to attend another session but unfortunately had no time. The parade was also neglected. I am not sure the message was clear. Something about trees, nature and the arts. There was no media. The organisers did a great job though bringing together so many people. The Femmes Fatales are quite fun. Burlesque has for a while been popular in cu...

Most of the works with the usual muted beige paletter. This one a standout however, the strong blues especially drawing attention from people in the gallery. It's like ICE agents beating Snow White. So interesting and deep. Zilinski is consistent, sort of puzzled lines that seem a bit surprised to find themselves on the canvas. The canvas embarrassed by all the attention, feeling  a bit unworthy.

This month I drove north for the annual Myall Creek Commemoration event. It's every year on King's Birthday weekend. On the Saturday before the ceremony I went out to this fair. They have some interesting sculptures. The countryside around there is grazing land, rolling hills, dry grass. Some areas of green evidcently there'd been some rain. The fair wasn't amazaing I sat down had some coffee. Saw some people I know. Actually almost had an accident. The satnav was telling me one thing the road sign another. I was in front of a caravan, then I braked and crossed to the other side of the road, turned back. In the end little drama though the driver of the car towing the caravan must've had a bit of concern. I did a U-ie and came back to the turnoff. Drove south. It was sunny and not too cold during the trip. Funny thing about country folk the cars are almost all utes or 4WD but for some reson like 60pc white colour.

Somehow this artist's works manage to be figurative, the mass of brushstrokes culminating in an image taken from the natural world. It's sort of like a revelation. I have seen his work at this gallery for years, many years ago I thought of buying one. Maybe it's the next stage of figuration after Fred Williams. What is it about the landscape in this country that drives artists to such depths of expression. I think Jun Chen who shows at Nanda/Hobbs sits on the same spectrum. Whatever it is it's great. I really enjoyed looking at Pennock's works this time. No doubt he'll be back again next year for another showing.

This was another stop on the Rushcutters Bay gallery walk. The works seemed a good fit for the particular gallery. It's not unusual to find a show like this with similar items for sale. Apologies if I'm not being clear. What I mean to say is that these items look similar. But this is normal in Sydney, and probably elsewhere. In fact the titles of the works are as interesting as the works themselves. Grounded, carved by memory, holding the story. I wondered who the artist was. Is. The gallery walk is worthwhile. Visiting commerical galleries is good fun, well if you're a little weird. Or if you don't mind wasting time. I usually go with friends.

Mark Dober, a solo exhibition, The Splendour of Nature, at Manning Regional Gallery, Taree. Exhibition ends 12 July 2025. Mark has made his wall-sized gouache and watercolour works on site in the landscape. The gouache shown in this post is 168 x 380 cm. Mark lives in central Victoria, he is a member of the Eastern Suburbs Art Group.