BELYNDA HENRY
to paint is to love
28 November - 20 December 2020
AU S T R A L I A N GA L L E R I E S SYDNEY
‘Why should you think that beauty, which is the most precious thing in the world, lies like a stone on the beach for the careless passer-by to pick up idly? Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of [her] soul. And when [she] has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that [she] sings to you…’ Excerpt from W. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence, 1919
AU S T R A L I A N GA L L E R I E S SYDNEY
Invites you to
BELYNDA HENRY to paint is to love Saturday 28 November 2020 11am – 5pm 15 Roylston Street Paddington NSW 2021 Exhibition current until Sunday 20 December 2020 Open 7 days 10am to 6pm T 02 9360 5177 sydney@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au Front cover: Ordinance 2 (detail) 2020 oil and wax on canvas 182 x 152 cm Left: Artist in her studio, 2020
Artist in her studio, 2020
Belynda Henry’s latest exhibition, to paint is to love is a personal and emotive response to the beauty, resilience and the vulnerability of our Australian landscape. Working en plein air around Sydney Harbour and from her studio lodged within the landscape, this exhibition includes Henry’s largest and most unrestrained paintings. The works range from small and intimate to a large 4 metre long triptych. In this exhibition, Henry continues to experiment with and push her process of mark making as she documents emotive scenes of coastal Sydney landmarks such as Camp Cove, Shark Island and Seven Shillings Beach. Henry skilfully balances free flowing harmonies of colour and composition to create fragmented landscapes that are both vibrant and serene. However, this exhibition also speaks to Henry’s newfound leaning towards abstracted painting – and the keen observer may also note sensual forms emerge. The show also features the sounds of recorded bird calls from around the artist’s studio as well as a suspended sculptural installation by floral artist Tracey Deep. to paint is to love is a sensory and immersive experience for audiences that provides a glimpse into Belynda Henry’s creative process as an artist embedded within nature of which she has a deep reverence for. As New York art critic Nixon Marters said, ‘An abstracted landscape is a metaphor for the artist’s emotional landscape, not the physical one’. I must admit there is a lot of truth to that for me for now, particularly with this series of works, the exhibition and the subsequent book To Paint Is To Love – these are my most revealing paintings to date. - Belynda Henry, 2020
The serpent landscape 2020 pigment, dust and acrylic on marine plywood, triptych 199 x 122 cm (each)
Eucalyptus 2 2020 oil and wax on canvas 168 x 212 cm
Reflections with yellow 2020 watercolour, oil and wax on canvas 152 x 183 cm
Clark Island I 2020 watercolour and pastel on Arches paper 105 x 155 cm
Bowerbird 2020 stained pigments on raw canvas 214 x 182 cm
Pheasant coucal 2020 stained pigments on raw canvas 214 x 182 cm
Volitant 2020 oil and wax on canvas 214 x 182 cm
Shark Island 4 2020 watercolour and pastel on Lana Aquarelle paper 105 x 155 cm
Seven Shillings Beach 2020 watercolour and pastel on Arches paper 105 x 155 cm
Mysterious water 4 2020 oil and wax on canvas 152 x 182 cm
Pale calm 2020 oil and wax on canvas 152 x 182 cm
Golden summer with yellow and pink 2020 oil and wax on canvas 197 x 183 cm
Harbour symphony 1 2020 oil and wax on canvas 182 x 152 cm
Harbour symphony 2 2020 oil and wax on canvas 182 x 152 cm
Gumtree reflections 2020 oil and wax on canvas 61 x 61 cm
Ordinance reimagined 1 2020 watercolour and pastel on paper 155 x 105 cm
Ordinance reimagined 2 2020 watercolour and pastel on paper 155 x 105 cm
The light, the dark 2020 oil and wax on canvas 112 x 92 cm
Floating falling 5 2020 oil and wax on canvas 107 x 107 cm
Floating falling 6 2020 oil and wax on canvas 107 x 107 cm
The serpent landscape (study) 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 76 x 56 cm
Peacock trail 2020 watercolour and gouache on Lana Aquarelle paper 155 x 105 cm
Overview 2020 oil and wax on canvas 152 x 152 cm
Ordinance I 2020 oil and wax on canvas 182 x 152 cm
Ordinance 2 2020 oil and wax on canvas 182 x 152 cm
Sydney Harbour scene 2020 watercolour and pastel on paper 105 x 155 cm
Camp Cove 2 2020 watercolour and pastel on Lana Aquarelle paper 105 x 155 cm
Opera pink - sunset glow 2020 watercolour and pastel on Arches paper 105 x 155 cm
Tangle 14 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 15 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 6 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 16 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 18 2020 watercolour and gouache on Fabriano paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 19 2020 watercolour and gouache on Fabriano paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 20 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Tangle 21 2020 watercolour and gouache on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Lady Bay 2 2020 watercolour and pastel on Arches paper 78 x 58 cm
Camp Cove 6 2020 watercolour on Arches paper 58 x 78 cm
BELYNDA HENRY
Camp Cove (study) 2020 watercolour on Arches paper 38 x 28 cm
AU S T R A L I A N GA L L E R I E S MELBOURNE: Derby Street 03 9417 4303 Stock Rooms 03 9417 2422 SYDNEY: Roylston Street 02 9360 5177 enquiries@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au Design and Production by Publishing