monotypes
10 jan – 3 feb 2007
king street gallery on burton 1 0 2 b u r t o n s t re e t d a r l i n g h u r s t nsw 2010 australia tel 612 93609727 fax 612 93314458 t u e s d a y – s a t u r d a y 11 a m – 6 p m email: kingst@bigpond.com www.kingstreetgallery.com.au
Aged in her 70’s and based in Wedderburn near Campbeltown NSW, Cummings has concentrated on the painters craft over many years. If one was to describe her work as being well crafted this is intended as a very high compliment. Her paintings are beautifully structured, the brush work lyrical and expressive, but devoid of theatrical gestures, and the colour resonant with deep sonorous echoes.
There are two things which distinguish her vision from that of many other Australian painters following along a similar path. Firstly, her sense of light speaks of an Australian and not a European experience and secondly her paintings signify a triumph of visual intelligence.
The Canberra Times Nov 30, 2005.
Professor Sasha Grishin works for the Australian National University and is The Canberra Times Arts Writer.
elisabeth cummings arnhem land 2006
opposite: The road to Halls Creek 2006 monotype
mungo 2006 monotype
‘she has always had a great internal drive to paint, a passion, she delights in the scrubbyness of the australian bush’ John Mcdonald, writer and art critique for the Sydney Morning Herald, 2005
sunrise with purple mountain 2006 monotype
salt lake 2006 monotype
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untitled 2006 monotype
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flinders 2 2006 monotype
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flinders 1 2006 monotype
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pilbara 2 2006 monotype
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bird over land 2006 monotype
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window to the sea 2006 monotype
the blue vase 2006 monotype
window with vessels 2006 monotype
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pilbara 1 2006 monotype
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still life with teapot 2006 monotype
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waterhole 2 2006 monotype
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Monotype is a unique printmaking technique. The artist paints an image in printing ink on a sheet of metal, plexiglass, or other flat nonabsorbent surface and then runs it and a piece of paper through a press. Only one good impression can be made. Monotype is a synonym.
waterhole 1 2006 monotype
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red boat 2006 monotype
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moon on harbour 2006 monotype
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‘the bush always creeps into everything’ Elisabeth Cummings, 2005
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boat hull 2006 monotype
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blue bow 2006 monotype
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still life with yellow mountain 2006 monotype
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the rainbow 2006 monotype
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‘only through her experience of that particular place, she can distill it in a unique way’ Nick Waterlow, curator, 2005
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red termite mound 2006 monotype
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elisabeth cummings born 1934
Brisbane Queensland
1974-pres
Lives and works in Wedderburn, NSW
1975-2001
Part-time art teaching
1958-68
Lived and studied in Italy & France
1961
School of Vision, Salzburg, with Oskar Kokoschka
1953-57
National Art School, Sydney
solo exhibitions (selected)
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2006
new paintings king street gallery on burton, sydney
2005
Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2004
painting king street gallery on burton
2003
painting king street gallery at Span Galleries, Melbourne
2002
new paintings king street gallery on burton
elisabeth cummings & clara hali Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
2001
Paintings and Prints Chapman Gallery
2000
recent work king street gallery on burton
1998
recent work king street gallery on burton
1997
Survey Show (1965-1995) Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Qld
Chapman Gallery
1996
Survey Show (1965-1995) Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW
recent paintings king street gallery on burton
Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW
awards/residencies (selected) 2005
Artist in residence, COFA printmaking department, UNSW, Sydney
2000
Fleurier Prize for Landscape, S.A.
1996
Mosman Art Prize, NSW
1995
Camden Art Prize, NSW
1992
Tattersall’s Club Art Prize, Qld
1991
Fishers Ghost Prize, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery
1989
Gold Coast Purchase Prize, Qld
1988
REIQ Bicentennial Art Award, Qld
bibliography (selected) 2006
Minick, Scott: Drawing Attention, Global Style-Gulf Air, Apr, p16
2005
McDonald, John: The guiding lights, Spectrum-Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 23-25, p18-19
McDonald, John: Drawn to the flames, Spectrum-Sydney Morning Herald, Dec10-11, p29
McDonald, John: Out of art’s boiler room, Spectrum-Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 8-9, p28
Garside, Sioux: Fire Dreaming (catalogue), University Art Gallery, University of Sydney
Johnston, Jay: Hot off the Press-Australia’s Best Raise the Stakes, COFA, Winter Issue, p12-13
Grishin, Professor Sasha: Lyrical and resonant, Canberra Times, Nov 28
2004
Hill, Peter: Favourite things, Spectrum-Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 4-5, p19
Beecher, Eric [editor]: Vintage Verve, The Reader, Nov 12, p34
Fortescue, Elizabeth: Interpreting: Elisabeth Cummings, Lino Magazine Sept
Lloyd, Ian: Australian Painters in Residence, R. Ian Lloyd Productions
Smee, Sebastian: Intimate portrayals coloured by interior dialogue, The Australian, Nov 2
Hunter, Catherine: Elisabeth Cummings: the quiet master, Sunday Programme Oct. 24
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collections Art Gallery of New South Wales
Kelvin Grove Teachers College, Brisbane
Artbank, Australia
Lismore Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Macquarie Bank
Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW
Manly Art Gallery and Museum, NSW
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Qld
National Gallery of Australia, ACT
Grafton Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Queensland Art Gallery
Griffith University, Brisbane
The University of Sydney, NSW
Hornsby Arts Council, Inc
The Hawkesbury City Art Collection, NSW
James Cook University, Townsville, Qld
The Redcliffe City Art Gallery, Qld
Kedumba Drawing Collection, NSW
University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
complete c.v. available on www.kingstreetgallery.com.au
monotypes printed at Whaling Road Studios, Sydney with the assistance of Diana Davidson and Peter Stevens art works photographed by Michael Bradfield
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