#ngva

#NGV #NGVA #FedSq Gareth Sansom ‘Transformer’, a retrospective of your typical country hetero cross-dressing elder statesman artist. 1979 Queen size bitch. (at NGV Australia: The Ian Potter Centre)

#NGVA Australian collection rehang: there is a mini-reunion of work from the #NGVI’s seminal opening exhibition in 1968, The Field, which presented a world of hard-edged geometric abstraction. One of Ian Fairweather’s Bribie Island works is complemented by contemporary Wawilak ceremony paintings by Mathaman Marika, and at the end an astonishing conjunction: intense works by Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula & Maggie Napangardi Watson are near similarly colourful paintings by Virginia Cuppaidge & (!) Pro Hart. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYK8xepPj5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#NGVA Australian collection rehang: Surrealism (or post-war trauma), punctuated by Clifford Last’s sculptures. Russell Drysdale’s 1947 The rabbiters makes an indelible mark, and it’s always good to see Eric Thake’s work. John Percival’s Soul Singer at Luna Park, 1943, duets with Arthur Boyd’s David and Saul, 1952. In the following room 1950s frocks complement John Brack’s and Charles Blackman’s cutting social commentary. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYJh_0py7L/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#NGVA Australian collection rehang: the 1930s can seem very fashion-bound - the display of fabulous military matches William Frater’s popular The Red Hat, 1937 - but thank goodness for the women! Even Frater’s sitter turns out to have been an interesting artist, Lina Bryans. Margaret Preston self-consciously learned from Aboriginal art, and Grace Cossington-Smith, Grace Crowley & Nora Heysen brought their chunky takes on European Cubism, Futurism & Neo-classicism; even in early abstract art Crowley outshines Ralph Balston. The next room gathers artists’ responses to native flora and fauna, including Merric Boyd’s cute ceramics, together with bark paintings from Groote Eylandt in the far north. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYIgyupFyr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#NGVA Australian collection rehang: Golden Summers and, IMHO, the greatest Australian painting of all: Arthur Streeton’s The purple noon’s transparent might, 1896 (when he was 29). Also a little painting from 11 years earlier by Tom Roberts with naked Streeton (in the bushes) and Fred McCubbin. In the next room are works by John Russell, friend & colleague of the French Impressionists and Van Gogh; Tudor St George Tucker, and Iso Rae, including sketches from WWI. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYGlr0veyZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#NGVA Fantastic rehang of the Australian collection, with fascinating conjunctions highlighted, and First Nations art, artefacts & histories woven through the whole. The early colonial section gets a bit of a serve! There’s a glimpse of Australia’s ‘gilded age’ too. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYFOGIv0SU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#NGVA Mass, Ron Mueck, 2017. This time looking at teeth 🦷 (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgYEyhFvU4J/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I was rapped over the knuckles by #Facebook after posting an artwork at the #NGVA that included a man’s willy - even though they say their censorship doesn’t include artworks. So I’ve appealed to their ‘Oversight Board’ (here are the members who have ties their reputations to FB) but I’m not expecting much. In the meantime here’s an example of the petty punishments they’re enforcing on me for being naughty. (at Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeFlKCFrSZq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=