Outing to The Shop Gallery Aug 12

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 so expressive and obvious, like youth.