(Item 1) A newspaper clipping for the promotion of my art show.
Item (2) Newspaper clipping from a get to know type
interview.
Item (3) Magazine feature article from Australian Author Magazine
Item (4 ) Newspaper clipping to advertise selection in Parallax Art Fair
Item (5) Media release for participation in Parallax Art Fair. Media release May 2012 SAINT OF FOOLS INSPIRES AN ARTIST’S LIFE AND WORK’ Who are we, really, and what face are we showing the world? How we see ourselves and how others perhaps see right through us is just one of life’s conundrums that Australian artist Caroline Magerl canvases in her painting. It has inspired new work for an upcoming exhibition in Australia later this year but it also hovers on the fringes of the work she is showing at her London debut as part of Parallax Art Fair (Parallax AF) 2012 at Chelsea Town Hall, May 16-18. The oil painting is titled The Face of St Imbecile and it does exude a saintly aura. However there is an unmistakeable hint of mischief in the fish resting on those saintly eyeballs. Incongruous yes, but not inexplicable, says Magerl, who explains that St Imbecile has a special place in her life as an artist, mother, lover and one-time sailor as the saint of the second chance, for fools everywhere. “I love the idea of the fool saint and the idea of the ‘’creature of blysse and blunder",” says Magerl. “When I was still sailing, I recall so many near misses by really deluded people who would set out to sea and somehow make it through. We were surrounded by people like this and, it has to be said , there was a fair streak of it in my parents, my aunt and uncle (and me!) .That is probably where the sense of irony in it comes from - I remember making jokes about the saint of idiots.” Magerl recalls how the image came to her three years ago, out of the blue. “It appealed because it was something beautiful and daft at once,” she says. “I think the fish is also quite bound up with dreams and childhood experiences. There is a sense of the ordinary and the archetypal going side by side that I feel quite strongly. It seeps through my work but it is more overt in this painting.’’ Magerl notes that the iconic and Biblical themes may be a family affair. “’My grandfather was a toymaker who carved wooden sculptures of Biblical figures for one of the big churches in the Nurnberg town square - must be in the blood , the icon making , even if mine is personal and tongue in cheek .’’
Magerl has always drawn deeply on the well of her inner world over more than two decades as a painter, illustrator and writer. Everything is up for grabs and nothing is sacred – especially saints – as she searches through the detritus of her subconscious that every so often surfaces in her dreams, crashing through into daily life . These surreal and sometimes dark impressions are more often than not infected by Magerl’s impish wit – a part of her personality that not only amuses friends, but has brought her success as a cartoonist for publications ranging from lifestyle magazines to periodicals for sailors. It has also brought her success in the world of children’s publishing with Magerl illustrating 17 children’s books over the past 16 years. A self-taught artists who has had no formal training, Magerl, who first started painting in her late teens, has an innate talent for humour and drawing – that’s obvious. She has expanded her skills over the years, taking a course in printmaking at Megalo in Canberra. Her tutor was Deborah Perrow , master printmaker who was formally employed at the Bodleian Library in Cambridge , UK. At the core of her practice is her painting and Magerl works from a studio in her home in Buderim, a town in the lush coastal hinterland of South East Queensland, Australia. She lives there with her partner Mark and teenage daughter Jennifer, who is the subject of a second painting Magerl will be exhibiting at Parallax. Magerl has painted her daughter often and this work is a particularly winsome one as a mother watches her daughter move through her teens to womanhood. There is no absurdity here, just an irresistible purity in paint. Magerl has exhibited around Australia however Parallax Art Fair will mark her first opportunity to show her work in London. She was originally selected to take part in Parallax by curator Dr Chris Barlow last year however due to her commitments for an exhibition she asked if she could participate in 2012. Dr Barlow agreed. Magerl says she is gratified to have been selected and finds appealing the philosophical platform of the fair as a place for ideas and discussion, with free entry for the public. For more information about Caroline and her work go to: Caroline@cmagerl.com.au www.cmagerl.com.au
Item (6) Reference from previous gallery of mine which has subsequently closed.
Item (7) Message from patron whose portriat I painted and an image of the portrait below. Response to portrait I have admired Caroline Magerl’s work for some years and in wanting to create a family heirloom, I asked Caroline if she would accept a commission to paint my portrait. A brave move, some said. During a few casual meetings together, we talked about my childhood and I shared intimate details of my family history as we walked in the national park and lunched by the river. What I didn’t realize then was that the artist was identifying certain powerful elements in my life and in the person I have become… elements that she would somehow transfer to the canvas. Aspects of our conversations have been conveyed through the artist’s empathy and technique to create a mood in the painting that I strongly relate to. As a painter of feelings, Caroline Magerl has intuitively completed a portrait that I feel really captures my true essence. The artist has made decisions regarding posture & format that are generous and complimentary. The canvas fabric is special and the choice of amazing red, chinese vermillion is historically and personally significant to me. The life-size painting is outstanding, and my gratitude towards Caroline is whole-hearted. It hangs on a wall that can be viewed from several areas in my home, so I am constantly in view of myself? Strange, wonderous, captivating. It is both a pleasure and a great honour to be painted by Caroline Magerl.
Susanne Madelene Ashton
Item (8) Link to web blog interview. http://www.artnewsblog.com/2006/09/caroline-magerl-interview-painter-and.htm Item (9) Link to artist web listing. http://www.artnewsblog.com/2006/04/caroline-magerl-artist-profile.htm Item (10) Link to Australian Embassy website promoting myself at Parallax Art Fair http://www.uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/EventsCult.html Item (11) Link to my previous work at a Sydney gallery http://www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/artists/caroline-magerl/caroline-magerl Item (12) Link to my receiving a grant to write and illustrate a Children's picture book which happened while I was in London. http://www.asauthors.org/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ASP0016/ccms.r?PageId=10498 Item (13) Link to Australian Illustrator's showcase site. http://www.thestylefile.com/show.php?illustrator_id=17
Item (14) Link to American Magazine that until recently I illustrated for. http://www.maineboats.com/online/harbor-features/caroline-magerl Item (15) Link to Canberra University - Lu Rees Archive - who have included my illustration work in archive. http://www.canberra.edu.au/lurees/searching/authorindex/attachments/other_files/MagerlCR.html