If anyone is in Singapore or knows someone who is, come and visit us at Stand J2 - F1 Pit Building, No. 1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore 038975

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th November, 2011

The Sydney Morning Herald's art critic John McDonald has written an amazing review of Michelle Dawson's two paintings entered into the Portia Geach and selected as double finalists this year. This is fantastic for Michelle who has had a great year and is on the brink of her solo show at our Gold Coast Gallery in November 2011. See link below.

See the images from Michelle's new exhibition here...

"Foremost is Michelle Dawson's small portrait of the artist Rene Bolten staring at a sparrow with the kind of intensity Chairman Mao might have practised when he had these birds exterminated in 1958. This work, which was highly commended by the panel, is a superior piece of painting and quirky enough to stand out from the crowd.

To prove it's no fluke, Dawson has another impressive painting in the show, a self-portrait called The Visitation, in which she sits face-to-face with a hyena. I won't speculate on the symbolism but there's no denying the skill with which this artist paints flesh, fur and fabric".

Read Michelle's artist profile here...

Read the review in full here: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/womens-work-20111027-1mknn.html#ixzz1cWaDcpIH

If anyone is in Singapore or knows someone who is, come and visit us at Stand J2 - F1 Pit Building, No. 1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore 038975

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th November, 2011

The Drawing Group is Rene Bolten, Michelle Dawson, Hilary Herrmann, Kellie O'Dempsey and James Cruickshank. As a group of practicing artists they are endlessly grateful for the casual collision of circumstances two years ago that conspired to bring them together on a fortnightly basis. Drawn Together is a cross section of the work they have produced within these meetings.

See images from the exhibition here...

The Drawing Group sees this exhibition as a great opportunity to share the creative fun and explorations had over this time. What has naturally evolved in these sessions is a propensity to work in turn on each others artwork or to work collectively on one piece of work. Their combined skills have coalsced in such a way that defies dissection into who did what and in this way the finished artworks have come to have their own identity.  It is as though the five very different ways of seeing and mark making have created a 6th artist, or as Rene puts it, " 5 is more than 5, 5 is one"

The diversity of their individual practices is perhaps the key to the success of their collaboration. Such a collaborative process is a fine blend of respect, trust, and let go, of not worrying about the outcome or being too attached to individual mark making.  They all concur that what they do in these meetings feeds back into their individual practice.  James, never one to mince words reflects " While there is the simple pleasure of their company and working without  expectation... but what I really love  about working with these seasoned campaigners is I get to see how they solve problems and then steal their ideas for my own." For Kellie "drawing together resets my compass." And for Hilary it is, "fun, inspiring and reassuring..." Michelle simply speaks of it as "a tonic'

Each meeting is facilitated by a different artist who sets the exercise, be it a still life of apples or fish or the old surrealist game of "the Exquisite Corpse." The element of chance has become an important factor. The works from the series "Lucky Dip Words" involved pulling a word out of a paper bag and drawing it before passing it to the next person who drew a new word out and had to incorporate an image of that word into the existing picture, this process was continued until the drawings had gone full circle. These are the most narrative of the works produced by the group.

Over Christmas when the group scattered across the globe, they hit upon a game to keep them connected until meetings could resume. Each artist sent out 4 postcards they had altered in some way. The recipients in turn responded to the change and sent the card on to a new recipient who did likewise. The results of this process are the small artworks in the show entitled "Missing You".

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

In keeping with the spirit of their fortnightly meetings the Drawing Group drew names out of a hat  and took on the task of encapsulating what each member brings to these fortnightly Wednesday meetings.
Of each other they have this to say:

Hilary Herrmann
" Intrinsic and instinctual with a complexity that belies their primal execution, Hilary paints a world , her world with a stroke that can break you heart..."

Rene Bolten
"Whether drawing on the heritage of Rembrandt or the honesty of scratching  shoe polish across paper Rene Bolten’s work is always considered , mercurial  and tender."

Kellie O'Dempsey
 "a visual collision of line and energy."

Michelle Dawson
 "Michelle the artist is as Michelle the person, gentle, concerned, amusing." 

James Cruickshank
By emoting every mark he makes, be it with frustration, doubt, passion or pure joy, James constantly reminds us of the vulnerability, excitement and struggle of what we do.

The simple truth and affection of their responses perhaps best illustrates why they work so well together and why Rene Bolten sums up what The Drawing Group means to him by saying 'wish it was Wednesday."

At Retrospect we're very excited to announce that three of our artists have been selected as finalists in the Portia Geach Memorial Award. A Big Congratulations to Michelle Dawson, Jessica Geron and Maryanne Wick. It’s Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize for female artists and has greatly contributed to the development of female artists in this country. It was established by Florence Kate Geach in 1961 in memory of her sister, Portia Geach and is awarded each year to the best portrait painted from life of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters or the Sciences.

To find out more about the Portia Geach Memorial Award click here...

Maryanne Wick's painting,  Self Portrait (Reflection of a Night Painter)

Maryanne Wick draws attention to the incidental but often poignant moments we miss in our hectic day to day lives. Through painting, drawing and creating visual diaries, her subject matter focuses primarily on still life and figurative composition to convey - a sense of place - in quiet, unassuming ways. She has been described by art critic John McDonald (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 February 2008) as - an emerging painter with a subtle, distinctive touch.

See Maryanne Wick's profile here...

Michelle Dawson had an unheard of two entries selected as finalists in the prize her works are titled Sparrow Man and The Visitation shown below.

Born in New Zealand, Michelle moved to Australia in 1985. She has been working as a professional artist since 1996 and has studied both in Australia and the UK at the UCL Slade Art School. Michelle has been shortlisted for several major art prizes including the Bendigo drawing Prize and the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize. She has twice represented Australia at the Intercontinental Biennale of Small Graphics in Romania and was shortlisted for the CBCA 2009 Crichton Award for Best New Illustrator.

See Michelle Dawson's artist profile here...

This is Jessica Geron's painting, Our Time

Jessica Geron graduated from the College of Fine Arts Sydney (MFA) and is currently working out of Brisbane. She has had numerous solo shows in the last decade as well as exhibiting extensively in NSW, QLD and VIC. Her works draw heavily upon iconography and grabbed moments of pop culture. She is a compulsive hoarder of imagery, cut outs, obscure film and discarded postcards. Her bold and colourful canvases are a buzzing reflection of this obsessive compulsion.

See her artist profile here...

Read this wonderful feature on one of our special artists Michelle Dawson in Coast Living Magazine.

"Living and working in an old church in Bangalow, Michelle Dawson is becoming known not only for her beautiful drawings of mythical creatures but for her talents as an illustrator of children's books... Michelle has a number of exhibitions lined up for the rest of the year, including a group show called Drawn Together at Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay in September, and a solo exhibition- Snowing Down South at Retrospect Galleries Broadbeach in November."

Friday 11 November to Wednesday 23 November

Opening 6pm Friday November 11

Michelle's work invariably includes animals, although of late the creatures have begun to cross breed and hybridize into strange beasts. Her current predilections include; Tasmanian tigers, dodos, big cats, hyenas, crows, wings,(on anything), fairy-tales, halos, pomegranates, Velasques ruffs, putti, stormy skies, and monsters. She lives and works in a converted church near the coast in rural Australia.

At the end of each year we look forward to presenting our annual Petits Travaux, ‘smalls’ show, featuring over 300 unique artworks from 34 artists, each measuring 25cm x 25cm.  This is our chance to showcase some of our most popular artists from the year in miniature form and at matching miniature cost, and introduce you to some new faces.  This year people loved Simon McLean’s quirky illustrations and humourous text, which sold out within a few hours.  Other favourites included Craig Martin’s whimsical paintings, Mia Taninaka’s works on wood and Susan Gorley’s retro inspired screenprints.