Gallerysmith is participating in Denfair with three artists, Adriane Strampp, Isobel Clement and Kirrily Hammond. Details here.
DENFAIR is a boutique trade event and the leading destination for contemporary design in Australia. Held over three days in Melbourne, DENFAIR delivers the very best brands to their customers within a stimulating environment of discovery and inspiration.
Playing with form and figure, Uneasy Idyll presents four artists who explore the ambiguous and sometimes uncanny relationship between aspects of the land and the figure.
Adriane Strampp Dissolve 2017 oil on linen 91 x 91 cm
On exhibition currently at Hill Smith Gallery as part of Art Central Hong Kong, the gallery has selected four artists from the South side of Australia – Deidre But-Husaim (SA), Matt R. Martin (VIC), Shannon Smiley (VIC) and Adriane Strampp (VIC). Whilst distinct in their own practices, each artist plays with the emotion of the figure or the landscape and the potential connection this can hold with the viewer.
Deidre But-Husaim is known for her diverse works, focused upon the very nature of looking and making rather than solely the concept. Thus her works range from depicting people experiencing a work of art or might be purely an investigation into a phenomenon of nature.
Whilst Deidre switches between man and nature, Matt R. Martin is focussed purely on the subtle nuances of human gesture. Stemming from his mother’s passion for classical ballet, he continues a love for the capability of the human form. His works present the body in strange formations and orientations, reconstructing and depicting body language.
Shifting the gaze to the landscape Adriane Strampp paints tale of the Romantic landscape. Lyrically abstract, there is a sense of an in-between or passing time in her transient works. Strong washes of colour vary in tone across the canvas, painting an emotional narrative. In subtle contrast Shannon Smiley is drawn to the rough and cheeky urban setting – depicting a landscape where nature has taken back over the city. There is a tension between the natural and man-made that Smiley encourages, with the centre of the metropolis presented as unruly and overgrown.
Somewhere between curious ambiguity and painterly detail, look forward to evocative works that present settings that are both strange yet familiar.
EXHIBITION Uneasy Idyll Until 25 March 2017 Hill Smith Gallery at Art Central Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Hong Kong
Courtesy the artists and Hill Smith Gallery, Hong Kong
DEIDRE BUT-HUSAIM, MATT R. MARTIN, SHANNON SMILEY, ADRIANE STRAMPP
Adriane Strampp, Diversion 2017 oil on linen 91 x 91 cm
Hill Smith Gallery will be exhibiting the works of four painters, Deidre But-Husaim, Matt R. Martin, Shannon Smiley and Adriane Strampp in the group show ‘Uneasy Idyll’ at Art Central during Hong Kong Art Week.
While each artist is unique in their method and interpretation, the artists share themes associated with the figure and the landscape such as the illusion of the idyllic, ambiguity and time suspended. All four approach their practice with great skill and technical knowledge, the resulting paintings allowing a breadth of interpretation yet remaining visually and thematically sympathetic with each other.
ADRIANE STRAMPP explores the theme of the Romantic landscape, the intangible and the evocative, the search for a sense of place, and the desire for connection, a reflection of her own peripatetic background. Interest is not in the mimetic representation of landscape, but rather the suggestion and presence of the viewer observing, present yet separated from that which he sees. It traces both the literal and the emotional journey of a landscape remembered, the search for familarity, and explores triggers that help us connect the past with the present.
First Light has been selected for the Len Fox Painting Award at the Castlemaine Art Museum.
First Light 2015 oil and wax on linen 41 x 41 cm
The 2016 Len Fox Painting Award is a biennial $50,000 acquisitive award at the Castlemaine Art Gallery & Historical Museum. Initiated and funded by Len Fox (1905-2004), this prestigious award commemorates the life and work of his uncle, the influential and internationally recognized Australian born painter, Emanuel Phillips Fox (1865-1915). Known for his plein air, impressionist style, Fox’s paintings are characterized by vibrantly coloured landscapes and scenes of everyday life.
Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum 14 Lyttleton Street Castlemaine VIC 3450
The John Leslie Art Prize is one of Australia’s most prestigious and valuable prizes for contemporary landscape painting.With a first prize of $20,000 (non-acquisitive) the Prize consistently attracts the highest calibre of artists working in Australia. An additional prize of $1,000 will be given to the best Gippsland work.The Prize is made possible through the generous ongoing support of the Gallery’s Patron, John Leslie OBE.
‘In her work Gauze, meanwhile, Adriane Strampp heightens our sensory perception by concealing much of the pictorial data. Hers is a dreamy, half-remembered world where subject and colour are pared back to an elemental core, and where mood and atmosphere take precedence.’
Gippsland Art Gallery 64-66 Foster Street, Sale VIC 3850
Haefliger’s Garden 2016 52 x 152 cm, charcoal, ink, watercolour on 640 gsm watercolour paper
The Paul Guest Prize is a non-acquisitive cash prize of $12,000 which is held every two years, highlighting contemporary drawing practice in Australia. The Prize was initiated by former Family Court Judge and Olympic rower, the Honourable Paul Guest QC and encourages artists from across Australia to engage with the important medium of drawing and to create challenging and unique art works.
Bendigo Art Gallery 42 View Street, Bendigo VIC 3550 August 27 – October 16 2016
