Eastern Suburbs Art Group

On Tuesday night I caught the bus to Redfern to visite Damien Minton's gallery in Darlington. The small collages are colourful and delicate with a concealed power of design running through them like a river. I learned that Harnett's last show of such works was in Japan, and I talked with Virginia (who I met at the gallery) about Japanese love of paper. Back in 1982 I was staying with a Japanese family in Kyoto who ran a paper shop, everything on sale was made of paper. I don't know if the family still runs the shop but knowing the Japanese it's highly likely. Harnett's use of paper is clever and compelling, with a fun sense of colour and a serious intent, I'm not sure what her ultimate message is but I enjoyed the show very much. When talking with Virginia I learned that Zuza Zochowski will be showing at the gallery later in the year and made a promise to myself to be there for that as well.

Thinking to spend time in the CBD I caught the bus to Roslyn Oxley9 in Paddington, actually I got the train to Museum and walked down Burton Street. I made a mistake and went to the wrong place so used my phone's direction finder to locate the gallery. Arriving early before the crowds honestly started up their clamour I spent time with the paintings (see above) which are large and colourful. I met up with artist Christine Dean and we headed out to have food in Darlinghurst at around 7pm. Simon Kahn from the group had just arrived at the gallery with his friend so didn't join us. I rather liked Polo's work though I wasn't sure precisely what it is about. Christine and I discussed it over a Thai meal (I just had tom yum kha , Christine had a laksa ). Actually I sort of preferred Sarah Contos' work hanging in the gallery around the corner from the main room. Contos' drawing is more regularly figurative. She uses cinema as a metaphor while Polo relies more on the pa...

I went to Laerk Space in Newtown on Monday to take home the paintings. I got the works of four artists in my car and said goodbye to xour wonderful gallerist Annie in the street. In the afternoon Victoria Lorenzatto popped by my place to pick up her work out of the ones I'd transported. When I got home on Sunday I put the yellow flowers friend John Samaha gave me in a vase (see above). It was nice on Monday to finally do some housework, including two loads of laundry left from the weekend and the previous week. On Tuesday I did painting, starting a new series of 'Social animals'.  After all the activity it was a relief to be quiet but I had such a joyful time during the show. One thing that the show reminded me of was work, and this feeling was exacerbated by the fact that I used to work very close to where the gallery is located, just down the street in fact. I even remembered the day I'd gone to that job interview it must've been in 2003, twenty years ago exactly,...

Getting to the gallery early was easy because I was able over the four days to just walk from Redfern Station down Wilson St, sometimes down Abercrombie to buy newspapers to read while waiting for customers to come into the space. On Sat 19th I got there early as usual but people really started to come in around midday when the opening was scheduled to start.  The crowd spilled out onto the pavement (see below) chatting but it was a bit much for me, at some point I just shut down from all the socialising I remember vageuely standing with two people I was supposed to be entertaining but nothing came out of my mouth and I felt a bit awkward.  The shop is at 163 Wilson St Newtown and it has corner-store signage so blends into the suburban environment. On Sun fewer people arrived to see dthe works but I had longer discussions with Virginia then with Mark and his partner Stephanie who came along in the afternoon.  In fact Sun was more my pace, not so rushed-off-your-feet. Most...

Yesterday I learned how to hang pictures in an exhibition. It was a busy day and an interesting one for me and for the others in the show. I met Bruno Valente and Victoria Lorenzatto for the first time and we got busy putting up the works. When Simon Kahn and I were planning the show I thought there'd be too many items for the gallery but it turned out that the number was ideal. One person who popped into the gallery (163 Wilson St Newtown) to have a look had a puppy with her and the puppy got attention (see above). Bruno, Victoria, Dion (a friend of Bruno's) and I used a ladder to get the drops into the rails, then we measured the distance for the centre of each painting. Unfortunately mathematics is not my strong suit so I calculated the numbers wrong. When gallerist Annie Laerkesens arrived later the two of us had to recalculate. The above photos show the wrong numbers. I didn't take a photo of the final hang but will put up more photos soon so you can check back in for ...

Supposed to meet a friend but he was kayaking with his daughter – a great excuse if ever there was one – I popped into The Shop Gallery on Sat to see a group show ‘Looking at the overlooked’ containing sweet figurative works. Beforehand I got a cup of coffee at a place where both the staff were Japanese, so I was able to eavesdrop silently. Above is me with Tina Young’s ‘Billy’s chair’ I think, tho I didn’t snap a photo of the sticker. Below is a photo of Kathie Mason’s ‘Annemarie’s vase’. The paintings reminded me of a work in my collection Melissa Selby Brown’s ‘Gazania’ which I’ve had since 2008 (see below), it shows a plain jar of water with wildflowers in it. I think in the case the intention of Selby Brown is to communicate something about the fleetingness of things, and also to point to renewables. The gazania is an African wildflower than travels widely. It’s striking that the Margaret Olley legacy lives on despite her death – or, perhaps, because of it. I love flowers they’re ...

I went to this lovely show with Bronwen and her mother, we drove and parked in the shopping centre. In the gallery we looked at the fantastic still lifes on the walls, a riot of bright colours and strange grey shadows. The works have subtle environmental resonances, some containing renditions of insects and birds caught in a timeless state like creatures in amber. I enjoyed this show very much and vowed to keep an eye out for the artist in future.  The paintings are oils and very sweet, with each one different in meangful ways. As well as the floral paintings there were othe still lifes out the back, smaller paintings, featuring tableware and fruit. I especially liked a work that shows a little container like something you'd pick up in a roadside bazaar shop in the country.