Edward Koumans is one of Far North Queensland’s favourite artists, delighting collectors and artists for over two decades with his witty and sometimes sinister figurative assemblages and paintings. His figurative works in painting and sculpture extend contemporary post-colonial and cultural narratives. In the tradition of assemblage sculpture Koumans presents figures constructed from everyday flotsam and jetsam, mementos of times gone by and ethnographic fragments. Discarded odds and ends take on new life as distinctive figurative sculptures. Kouman’s paintings have a primitive figurative style. He uses an open brush technique and scrapes back through the wet paint in a drawing gesture. Over the years his subject matter has conveyed a compelling insight into northern Australia’s spirit of place with content ranging from ‘Men and Crocs’ to inland landscapes.
9 December 2005 to 18 February 2006
Edward Koumans Born 1946, The Hague, Netherlands. Arrived Australia 1949. Lives and works in Cairns. Solo Exhibitions 2005: Artland, KickArts Contemporary Arts. 2002: KickArtSpace, Cairns. 2001: Cairns Regional Gallery (CRG) & KickArtSpace. 1996: Umbrella Studio Townsville & CRG, Solo Café Gallery, Le Cake Café & Gallery, Café ZuZu Cairns. 1994: Tolga Homestead Gallery, KickArtSpace. 1998-91: Capricorn Gallery, Port Douglas. 1997-86: Hogarth Gallery, Sydney.
Birdbath I, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 114 x 119 cm Artland exhibition KickArts Upper Gallery, 2005 Birdbath II, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 114 x 119 cm Headhunter I, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 58 x 20 x 20 cm Artland (detail) Environmental Figures, 2005, sculpture, 150 x 290 cm Big Boy, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 103 x 730 x 30 cm (front) Thermos Man, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 77 x 20 x 20 cm
Group Exhibitions 2005: CRG, KickArts touring exhibition FNQ Souvenir, Gab Titui Thursday Island Torres Strait, Hinchinbrook Regional Gallery Ingham, KickArts Insider Exhibition Homefront, Regarding Retro Blacktown Regional Gallery touring exhibition Blacktown & Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, KickArts Dugongs of Hinchinbrook ll. 2004: KickArts FNQ Souvenir, Emporium Gallery Brisbane, Ochre Gallery Melbourne, CRG Post Card Show, KickArts Glare, TANKS Art Centre, KickArts Nature Culture, KickArts World & Cultural Heritage, KickArts Hitting On & Kicking Off. 2003: Crocodile Walking the Streets Cairns, Barry Stern Galleries Sydney, CRG Post Card Show, Artspace Mackay, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery. 2002: KickArtSpace, CRG, Lexus of Cairns. 2001: CRG, KickArtSpace Cairns. 2000: KickArts Christmas Exhibition, CRG, Umbrella Studio Townsville. 1999: CRG. 1998: Helen Wiltshire Gallery, University Art Museum Brisbane, Gallery 101 Melbourne, GSES Art Museum, Manila, Philippines. 1997: KickArts Group Show Gadens Ridgeway, Doggett Street Studio Brisbane. 1996: Red KickArtSpace, Baggage Cairns Airport, Helen Wiltshire Gallery. 1995: Queensland Art Gallery, KickArtSpace, Tanks Art Centre, CRG. 1994: Cairns Showgrounds, Graft’n Arts, CRG, KickArtSpace. 1993: CRG. 1987: Holsworth Gallery Sydney. Collections Cairns Base Hospital Art in Care Collection, Queensland Art Gallery, City Hall Gallery, Art Bank, Cairns Regional Gallery and private collections both national and international.
List of Works Artland Figures, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 27 pieces average 32 x 24 x 6 cm Islander with Idol I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 69 x 56 cm Islander with Idol II, 2005, mixed media on paper,76 x 56 cm Man with Bird I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 50 x 70 cm Man with Fish I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 64.5 x 45 cm Man with Fish II, 2005, mixed media on paper, 64.5 x 45 cm Naked I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 76 x 56 cm Naked II, 2005, mixed media on paper, 76 x 56 cm Self with Bird I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 64.5 cm Self with Bird II, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 64.5 cm Man with Blue Eyes I, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 32 cm Man with Blue Eyes II, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 32 cm Man with Blue Eyes III, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 32 cm Boogie Men, 2005, mixed media on paper, 45 x 64.5 cm Landscape I - IV, 2005, mixed media on canvas, quartette 61 x 400 cm Birdbath I, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 114 x 120 cm Birdbath II, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 114 x 120 cm Crossing Country I, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 23 x 28.5 cm Crossing Country II, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 23 x 28.5 cm Thermos Man, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 77 x 20 x 20 cm Big Boy, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 103 x 730 x 30 cm Headhunter I, 2005 assemblage sculpture, 58 x 20 x 20 cm Headhunter II, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 53 x 20 x 23 cm Venus, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 60 x 22 x 15 cm Grace, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 71 x 20 x 15 cm Islander, 2005, assemblage sculpture, 56 x 25 x 16 cm