PERC TUCKER REGIONAL GALLERY
Publisher
Published on the occasion of
Gallery Services Gallery Services, Townsville City Council PO Box 1268 Townsville Queensland, 4810 Australia ptrg@townsville.qld.gov.au ŠGallery Services, Townsville City Council and the authors 2016 ISBN: 978-0-949461-12-4
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery 1 April - 1 May 2016
Project Manager Shane Fitzgerald
Organised by Gallery Services Shane Fitzgerald Eric Nash Erwin Cruz Louise Cummins Rob Donaldson Jo Stacey Holly Grech-Fitzgerald Carly Sheil Dianne Purnell Sarah Welch Leonardo Valero Rurik Henry Jess Cuddihy Sarah Reddington Wendy Bainbridge Ruth Hughes Danielle Berry Damian Cumner Jillian Macfie Denise Weightman
Publication Design and Development Manager Gallery Services Curator Exhibitions and Collection Coordinator Education and Programs Coordinator Digital Media and Exhibition Design Coordinator Team Leader Administration Gallery Services Collections Management Officer Digital Media and Exhibition Design Officer Digital Media and Exhibition Design Fellow Public Art Officer Exhibitions Officer Exhibitions Officer Education and Programs Officer Education and Programs Assistant Administration Officer Administration Officer Arts Officer Gallery Assistant Gallery Assistant Gallery Assistant
Cover Image Anneke SILVER Banking over flood plain 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
Contact Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Cnr. Denham and Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Mon - Fri: 10am - 5pm Sat - Sun: 10am - 2pm
Rob Donaldson / Eric Nash / Shane Fitzgerald
Acknowledgements Gallery Services would like to acknowledge the efforts of the artist, Anneke Silver, and Townsville City Council in realising this exhibition and supporting publication.
All artworks have been photographed by Shane Fitzgerald unless otherwise stated. Studio shot by Dr. Robert Preston.
(07) 4727 9011 ptrg@townsville.qld.gov.au www.townsville.qld.gov.au @TCC_PercTucker PercTuckerTCC
CONTENTS FOREWORD
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Shane Fitzgerald, Manager Gallery Services
SACRED RIVERS
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Eric Nash, Curator Gallery Services
ARTWORKS 15
FOREWORD There is little to write about the accomplishments of Dr Anneke Silver that has not already been written.
Her contribution to the encouragement of the region’s emerging artistic talents also cannot be overstated, having been the program leader of Fine Arts at James Cook University’s College of Music, Visual Arts, and Theatre for a number of years.
Her works have been exhibited across Australia, in America, Europe and Fiji in more than 30 solo shows, and countless group, invitation and touring exhibitions. Amongst these have been a number of highlight exhibitions for Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, such as un-framing (2006), Seasons Without Names (1997), and 30 Years in North Queensland (1997), a major retrospective exhibition curated by former Director Ross Searle.
Rivers un-cut is a welcome, and long overdue, solo exhibition of new work by the artist, ten years since the staging of her last solo show at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery. The exhibition provides an opportunity to celebrate Silver’s immense contribution to the region’s arts community, and take joy in her pure passion for painting.
Loved locally, admiration for her work also stretches throughout the North Queensland region and beyond; her works are included in numerous major public collections, including those of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Queensland Art Gallery; Artbank; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery; Glasshouse Gallery, Port Macquarie; Artspace Mackay; Cairns Regional Gallery; Bundaberg Regional Gallery; Parliament House, Queensland, as well as in private and corporate collections in Australia, America, and Europe.
Silver’s love for painting is perhaps only matched by her affection for the North Queensland environment, and this exhibition is a splendid union of these great passions. Anneke Silver’s Rivers un-cut affirms Perc Tucker Regional Gallery’s commitment to showcasing the work of the region’s leading artists. My congratulations go to the artist on realising this major achievement, a fine exhibition of new work three years in the making. Shane Fitzgerald Manager, Gallery Services
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SACRED RIVERS Widely celebrated North Queensland artist… Admirer and champion of our unique natural environment… The hibiscus personified, yearning for an escape from the confines of ‘the indoors’… Educator, nurturer, and eternal source of encouragement for peers and students… To Anneke Silver, all of these descriptions and more can be attributed, though no list will comprehensively surmise her contribution to the region’s arts community. What can be stated simply and concisely, however, is that Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is fortunate to be able to present a new body of work by the artist, entitled Rivers un-cut, for the people of Townsville in 2016.
And so it is with the works within this exhibition. No two works are the same. While distinct series are evident, Silver’s passion for exploring the landscape extends to the canvas, where she exuberantly veers from a single stylistic channel, following the natural course of her artistic instinct. While the exhibition contains works that have been treated in a great diversity of styles (indeed the artist comments that she has utilised “every medium a studio and hardware store can provide” 1), they all flow in the same direction towards a celebration of our landscape, its shapes, “immense patterns and aesthetics.” 2
Painted over the course of three years, the river provides not only a unifying theme for these new works, but also a fitting metaphor for the artist’s career – and particularly this series.
Perhaps Frances Thomson, former Director of Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, summed up the artist’s diverse yet consistent output best when writing for her 2006 exhibition, un-framing;
The river in its most beautiful form – un-cut, without interruption or diversion by human interference – finds its own way. It majestically sweeps through the landscape, searching towards something bigger than itself; no two rivers are the same.
Silver’s practice is divergent, moving through distinct periods and styles, indicative of her receptivity to, and voracious appetite for ideas. This competency across a range of areas has resulted in an eclectic approach to style.
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There is one constant in Silver’s oeuvre, however, and that is her reverence for the natural environment. Whether her work is expressive, figurative or representational, all pay homage to nature. Living in north Queensland with its fecund landscapes is necessary to sustaining this artist spiritually and philosophically. 3
Her artistic homage to nature is also an invitation to view the landscape in all its glory, as she does; to consider its beauty from every vantage point and to challenge the one point perspective of our traditional landscape vision, dating back to the Renaissance. The term un-cut also underlines the artist’s belief in the perils of framing or compartmentalising the expansive beauty of our natural landscape. Key works in Rivers un-cut highlight Silver’s considered use of scale to attempt to capture such a grand landscape. The artist’s appreciation of this grandeur came into acute focus during her early explorations of the northern and western Queensland landscape with husband Eddy. Ross Searle wrote of Silver’s experience;
In Rivers un-cut, the artist regularly crosses the river from realism to the more experimental footing of abstraction (or at least what may appear abstract to those of us less familiar with the chosen aerial perspectives). She drifts, not firmly planted on either bank, explaining; Working with imagery that sits on that edge between abstracted pattern and landscape has given rise to a whole lot of experimentations in approach, use of media, and angle of vision... I had to look at abstract expressionism, at gesture, colour, and texture. I agree with Roy Churcher that every subject and situation demands a different treatment (my whole career has been an example of that...). For me every painting is a new adventure and it will go wherever it wants to go. 4
Camping out and sleeping on the ground out in the vast, flat undulating country around Richmond and the strange, stumpy hills near Mt Isa…Lying beneath the stars under an expanse of Sky, Silver recounts the strong sensation of having to cling to the warm earth for fear of being spun into space. 5
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Rivers un-cut includes familiar landscape views that are closely linked to what we could term the ‘traditional landscape’, and from there the artist takes us on a journey upwards. The gradual increase in elevation depicted in Silver’s works reveal to us a less familiar but awesomely beautiful glimpse of the rivers in the North Queensland environment.
view is that it changes the traditional view of landscape into a feast of shapes and colours. In this exhibition I want to show the magnificence of the flow and energy. I want to make these patterns visible to all and celebrate this vision of the land. 6 Beyond presenting a range of familiar and more challenging views of rivers, Silver also considers the different ways people have viewed rivers due to the experiences they bring to them. This is particularly evident in the major work, Viewpoints / Points of View, which is in a sense a “three step history of Australia told through landscape.” 7
These mid-flight and complete aerial depictions of river systems allow us to begin to comprehend the shapes and contours of the land and its relationship with the flow of water; perspectives we can begin to appreciate while sitting in the window seat during take-off and descent – visions long understood by Australia’s Indigenous peoples. From above, the artist explains that we can more easily view the way our creeks and rivers;
This five panel painting begins with the beauty of the undisturbed landscape – the “land as it is and always was” 8 The colour palette for this particular panel is important, as it links closely to two narrower panels that punctuate the work. These two panels include “names of Indigenous languages relating roughly to the areas which most inspired these works.” 9 Though the artist is quick to point out it is far from a conclusive list of the language groups, the intent is to pay tribute to the traditional custodians of the land, their connection to country and understanding of it.
…twist and wriggle their way to the sea with complete abandon, turning back on themselves and curling this way and that... Mother Nature’s scribble pad – the madder the better – shaping not only their own course but also what happens around it. Salt deposits, mangroves and mudflows all turn into meaningful patterns from the air tracing the flow and energy of water... What intrigues me about this unusual point of
Image left:
Trickle running wide [detail] 2015 Mixed media on canvas 90 x 90 cm
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The central panel of the work is intended to capture the age of ‘discovery’. The colour palette is again of significance, with the river and land rendered in Delft blue and white, in reference to Abel Tasman’s 1644 voyage, and also to the fine porcelains of the Chinese explorers who came across the land before him. In this, Silver is commenting on the manner in which explorers’ views of Australia were culturally coloured by their sense of ‘discovery’ of a land that was already inhabited.
success for the artist will be for admirers of her works to then appreciate the beauty of the landscape beyond the confines of the stretched canvas, as I found myself doing on a recent flight to the Gold Coast. Prompted by the artist’s works and her total understanding of the majesty of our winding rivers from above, I found myself staring out the window; not drifting amongst the clouds as is my usual state, but looking intently down, following the flow of the water as it traversed and hugged flat, earthy terrain and rolling hills alike.
The colour in the final panel also is a key to its concept -- not the era of discovery but our need to claim ownership of the land. In this case the colour refers to old maps and contains a subtle grid. The artist laments our blindness to the natural shapes and our thirst for “dividing land into rectangles so it can be owned and treated as a commodity.” 10 This “vision is detached, dispassionate, calculating and categorising.” 11 Because much of the land was divided into the sheep grazing leases, the artist carried out the segmenting by using black wool.
Silver’s keen interest in this aerial view of our landscape stems back to her Aerial series of the early 1970s; abstract works influenced by the CoBrA movement 12 which more pointedly interrogated urbanisation and the ceaseless sprawl of our footprint on nature. Silver has previously lamented this “visual clutter,” 13 and our encroachment on the shapes of nature is again touched upon in Rivers un-cut, particualrly evident through works such as Encroached and Hemmed In.
Having viewed the works that form Rivers un-cut, and being aware of the affection with which the artist is held, I am left in little doubt that viewers will be enamoured with Silver’s most recent suite of paintings. That said, the true measure of
In interrogating human encroachment on nature, the artist has always sought to draw our attention to the sanctity of the land.
Image right:
Hemmed in [detail] 2015 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Growing up in a country (the Netherlands) where every bit of water is hemmed in by levee banks, dikes, where curves are straightened and water levels are controlled by locks and weirs, it is a complete pleasure to me to witness this entirely natural flow un-interrupted – un-cut! This exhibition is the result of a life time of exploring rivers, creeks and gorges mostly in North Queensland. I have looked at them from aeroplanes, from the ground or half way up. I have seen them from a boat, or swam in them before crocs re-appeared. I have mused on the ways in which these landscapes are seen and wonder if anybody really cares about the beautiful shapes the rivers have.15
Writing for the major publication Images of the Goddess and Nature Mysticism, Ross Searle observed how this influenced the creation of Silver’s Bush Icons works of the early-mid 1980s; From the very beginning Silver’s artistic concerns in Australia related to her notion of the sacredness of Nature…The ‘ikon’ title referred to the enduring quality Silver felt about the landscape. 14 In these gold leafed panels she replaced the traditional religious imagery in icons with shapes of the natural bush environment. Overall, Rivers un-cut evokes a more celebratory mood than any lamentation – the artist’s encouragement of more widespread appreciation of the natural landscape taking precedence (and perhaps this is also a means to advocate for less human interference with the land, delivering her message with the carrot rather than the stick.)
This most recent exhibition by one of North Queensland’s most accomplished artists is just the latest triumph in a career spent sharing her love for the land through her paintings. Audiences who visit Rivers un-cut will undoubtedly drift, as I did, through this diverse collection and feel the artist’s genuine connection to this country, and moreover grow a greater appreciation for the aesthetics of our river systems beyond the common vista view.
Silver’s love affair with Queensland’s, and particularly North Queensland’s rivers, was perhaps piqued by her Dutch heritage, but has endured throughout her life;
Eric Nash Curator, Gallery Services
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Interview with the artist, Anneke Silver, in her home studio – Thursday 4 February 2016. Interview with the artist, Anneke Silver, in her home studio – Thursday 4 February 2016. Thomson, F 2006, un-framing: recent work Anneke Silver, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, QLD. Silver, A 2016, Rivers un-cut, exhibition brief. Magon, J and Searle, R 1995, Anneke Silver: Images of the Goddess and Nature Mysticism, Craftsman House G+B Arts International in association with Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, QLD. 6 Silver, A 2016, Rivers un-cut, exhibition brief. 7 Interview with the artist, Anneke Silver – Thursday 10 March 2016. 8 Interview with the artist, Anneke Silver, in her home studio – Thursday 4 February 2016. 9 Silver, A 2016, Rivers un-cut, exhibition brief. 10 Interview with the artist, Anneke Silver, in her home studio – Thursday 4 February 2016. 11 Heidegger, Martin, ‘The Age of the World Picture,’ in The Question Concerning Technology, trans. a an
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artifact available for appropriation nd ed. W. Lovitt (New York: Harper and Row, 1977). The name of the movement CoBrA is derived from the French names of the cities of Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The artists who founded the CoBrA group during a major international conference held in Paris in 1948 came from these three European capitals. A curled snake became the symbol of the movement. The CoBrA artists painted directly and spontaneously. Just like children, they wanted to work expressively without a preconceived plan, using their fantasy and much colour. They rebelled against the rules of the art academies and aimed at a form of art without constraint. They also explored working with all kinds of materials: the experimental was paramount. Source: www.saatchigallery.com Silver, A 2008, Anneke Silver: Linked Landscapes, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, QLD. Magon, J and Searle, R 1995, Anneke Silver: Images of the Goddess and Nature Mysticism, Craftsman House G+B Arts International in association with Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, QLD. Silver, A 2016, Rivers un-cut, exhibition brief.
ARTWORKS
The Bohle after the wet season Oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm
2015 - 16
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Wild river; Haughton 2015 - 16 Oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm
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Where Deep Creek and Althaus Creek meet 2015 - 16 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Sparkly sunrise over Cape Cleveland 2015 - 16 Oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm
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Flowing gently into the Hinchinbrook Channel 2016 Oil on canvas 120 x 180 cm
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The first creek in Zoe Bay 2016 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Poem for Gentle Annie Creek 2016 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Trickle running wide 2014 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 90 x 90 cm
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Secret River 2014 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 90 x 90 cm
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Joining the main stream 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Where rivers come from 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Over grazed (Waterhole Creek, Midge Point) 2014 - 15 Mixed media on canvas 90 x 120 cm
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“Passo Doble”, (Alligator and Crocodile Creek) 2015 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Viewpoints / Point of View 2013 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 151 x 600 cm
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Townsville before... 2015 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 145 x 200 cm
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Patterns around the mouth of the Bohle 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Flood (near Forest Beach) 2014 Mixed media on canvas 61.5 x 66 cm
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Black River enters the sea 2015 - 16 Acrylic on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Banking over flood plain 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Behind the beach; human tracks (Alva Beach)
2015
Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Fragile environments (Bluewater and Althaus Creeks) 2015 - 16 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Through clouds - Morrissey Creek 2015 Mixed media on canvas 63.6 x 63.6 cm
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Nudged 2015 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Encroached 2015 Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Hemmed in 2015
Oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Just north of Mission Beach 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Low sun reflections 2015 Mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Sunset reflected 2015 Acrylic on canvas 61 x 61 cm
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Nature’s plans for official approval (south of the Ross) 2015 Acrylic on canvas 122 x 122 cm
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