The art of David C Rowe
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14 Dec 2012 - 3 Feb 2013 Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
The art of David C Rowe
SURVEY
THIS
!
14 Dec 2012 - 3 Feb 2013 Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
PUBLISHER Gallery Services, Townsville City Council PO Box 1268 Townsville, Queensland 4810 Australia ptrg@townsville.qld.gov.au +61 7 4727 9011 ©Gallery Services, Townsville City Council and the authors 2012 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data Fitzgerald, Shane. Survey this! : the art of David C. Rowe / Shane Fitzgerald, Eric Nash. 9780980730555 (pbk.) Rowe, David C.--Exhibitions. Artists--Queensland--Exhibitions. Art, Australian--Exhibitions. Other Authors/Contributors: Nash, Eric J. 709.2 Exhibition organised by GALLERY SERVICES
Frances Thomson Manager, Gallery Services Shane Fitzgerald Curator Anthony Edwards Operations Supervisor Eric Nash Audience Development Co-ordinator Amber Church Audience Development Officer Jak Henson Installation/Collection Officer Leah McManus Installation Officer Jo Stacey Administration Officer Louise Middleton Gallery Assistant Gillian Ribbins Gallery Assistant Nic Horton Gallery Trainee Mitch Lynn Gallery Trainee Carly Sheil Gallery Trainee Daniel Sleigh Gallery Trainee Wendy Bainbridge Gallery Services Officer
Published on the occasion of the exhibition
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The Art of David C. Rowe Perc Tucker Regional Gallery 14 December 2012 – 3 February 2013 EXHIBITION CURATORS Shane Fitzgerald / Eric Nash REGISTRATION TEAM Jak Henson / Mitch Lynn / Nicholas Horton PUBLICATION DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT Carly Sheil / Shane Fitzgerald / Eric Nash Typeset in 9pt on 10pt Adobe Caslon Pro (text) 24pt on 31pt Adobe Caslon Pro (titles) Tall Dark and Handsome, Tall Films, Tall Films Expanded (cover) Photography: All photography by Shane Fitzgerald unless otherwise noted. MANAGEMENT AND DESIGN Shane Fitzgerald / Eric Nash / Jak Henson ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gallery Services would like to acknowledge the generous support and assistance of Townsville City Council in realising this exhibition. The time, dedication and assistance of the artist David C. Rowe in the organising of SURVEY THIS!, and the support of the Townsville and Ingham communities is also warmly acknowledged.
Foreword
I first became familiar with David’s work in 2004 when I attended the opening celebrations of the 2004 Capricorn Coast Arts Festival. Among the 300 strong entries to the awards were the striking – almost atmospheric – landscape works by Ingham based artist David Rowe. Not surprisingly David was announced as the winner of the Arts Festival and subsequently went on to secure the winning entry in the 2005 Arts Festival heralding the emergence of a previously unknown artist – particularly in central Queensland - exploring the regional landscape in a manner that can only be described as lucid works underpinned by a technical acumen evident in works produced by mature artists confident in their practice.
Some eight years later I undertook a sojourn to Ingham and spent a day with David viewing his oeuvre and discussing at length the motivations that underpin his practice. Having had very little contact with David’s work prior I was immediately overwhelmed by the scope and impact of his paintings. There is no denying the bold and often confrontational subject matter depicted within the works but perhaps the most significant aspect of his image making is the undeniable visceral intent played out upon the canvas. It is this aspect of David’s works that is most compelling as it deeply personalises the images and brings to light the fragility of us all - particularly during periods of uncertainty, turbulence and personal turmoil. I must commend David for his courage in exploring these themes and his attempt towards reconciling – through his art – a humanistic portrayal of the regional north Queensland landscape and idiom. I thank everyone from Gallery Services who has been involved in developing SURVEY THIS! – particularly Eric Nash, Carly Sheil, Jak Henson, Nicholas Horton and Mitch Lynn. I also congratulate David Rowe for providing the community of the Townsville region with the opportunity to engage with his works and therefore a unique insight into his practice, and encourage visitors to Perc Tucker Regional Gallery to enjoy the outstanding works on display. Shane Fitzgerald
Manager Gallery Services (acting) COVER: Symbiosis [detail], 2007, Oil on canvas, 180 x 130 cm INSIDE COVER: The Traders [detail], 2010, Graphite on cartridge paper, 59 x 84 cm BELOW: Two [detail], 2006, Oil on canvas, 140 x 200 cm
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A soul laid bare SURVEY THIS! is the largest public exhibition of the work of Inghambased artist David C. Rowe to date and highlights selected works created in the artist’s studio over the last six years. Rowe first held a solo show in 1981 and has always been a prolific painter, but he only began to see himself as a “chronically serious” artist just over ten years ago, coinciding with specialist art teaching he began to conduct in local primary schools.
Given Rowe’s recent ‘seriousness’, the quality and breadth of works included in SURVEY THIS! is quite astonishing. He displays an incredible proficiency with his handling of both the landscape and the human figure - an ability which has netted him numerous awards in art prizes across the north Queensland region. This rapid proficiency is only fathomable when one considers the degree to which Rowe pushes personal and stylistic boundaries in his work. LEFT: Desire, 2006, Oil on canvas, 200 x 140 cm ABOVE: Sacred Site, 2007, Oil on canvas, 100 x 135 cm
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All of Rowe’s works are - at some level - a personal expression, exploring topics ranging from his childhood experiences with his father, his profound sense of loss and grief at the passing of close friends and family, to his belief in the resilience of humankind in the wake of Cyclone Yasi, which consequently threatened his home town. Rowe also challenges himself technically; he learns primarily by producing new work, but also by studying and responding to the works of the masters, particularly the surrealists
such as Bosch and Gleeson that he has followed “from my early High School years.” Recently he has even taken to challenging the two-dimensional constraints of working on canvas. With each subsequent work he is driven to explore and conquer new techniques, hone his skills and ultimately arrive at a unique personal vision. This personal mission of exploration and development has lead Rowe through six distinct groupings of works which are represented in SURVEY THIS! Self Portrait with Farmer Bill, 2010, Oil on canvas, 105 x 165 cm
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The first four series have not been created in a linear fashion, but nevertheless can be seen to have grown out of each other; his Surrealist Paintings are rich in personal iconography; The Red Series is a progression from his Surrealism in which he deliberately restricts his colour palette akin to Picasso’s famed Blue Period; and The Dark Pictures continued the artist’s aversion of rich and complex colours, and more importantly refer to a more intense exploration of particularly turbulent times in the artist’s life. The Landscape Images have developed across Rowe’s entire career; some are direct depictions of the landscape, some ran parallel to the The Dark Pictures and sought to personify the landscape and depict its suffering, while other landscapes in the series present a ‘utopia vision’ and an escape for the artist from his dark thoughts.
The remaining two series, The Drawings and the Landscape and Figurative Works, are intrinsically linked to every other series the artist has developed. The Drawings inform the development of the paintings, while the Landscape and Figurative Works seek to reconcile or coalesce into one new vision for his oeuvre. Rowe’s Surrealist Paintings are often centred on a male figure which is being influenced by an external ‘event’. Rowe goes as far as to say that the figure is “even tortured” by the thumbtacks, masking tape, ropes, pulleys and studio paraphernalia that are common personal icons within his works. The works are complex, highly worked visions open to varied interpretations - as is the want of the artist - but they remain steeped in personal meaning. As well as being drawn to the challenge of depicting rigid angles of the male figure in comparison BELOW: Heirs of Hinchinbrook, 2010, Oil on canvas, 74 x 180 cm OVERLEAF: Tell me why, 2011, Oil on canvas, 70 x 90.5 cm
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to the curves of the female form, Rowe states that the abundance of male figures in his works “…stems from a lack of masculine contact with my father as a young artistic boy.” Similarly, the atmospheric landscapes which sweep, stretch and drip throughout all of his surreal paintings “often echo [his] home town of Ingham.” The natural progression for Rowe was to deliberately restrict his colour palette, resulting in The Red Series. These works are stylistically very similar to his surreal works, again incorporating a central figure/s, the atmospheric landscape intertwined with structures throughout
the canvas, and his studio equipment icons influencing and interacting with the figures and landscapes. Rowe states that the series came about... “from observing some monochromatic works of American Realist painter Albert Bierstadt in his works depicting the Redwood Forests of California. There was a freedom from mixing colour but a very great challenge producing depth within the work.”
Again, the series is highly personal and emotive, and the colour red was deliberately chosen “as a passionate vehicle.”
Pierced, 2011, Graphite on cartridge paper, 59 x 84 cm
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Of The Dark Pictures, Rowe professes to have been “again escaping from complex colour and a formal landscape background,” though ‘dark’ in this instance doesn’t refer simply to tonality, but also to the darker undercurrent explored in the subject matter. Rowe holds a general belief that “you can’t exist as a serious artist without portraying all aspects of human life.” At various points in his life, the artist has been confronted with challenging and traumatic situations that he has responded to, and sought to understand. “Life presents itself in many ways and after a series of life-changing experiences - the death of family members, financial worries, running a small business, being threatened by recurring floods and major cyclone events
– came The Dark Pictures…[which] narrate a degree of drama or the theatrical… During the period of Cyclone Yasi crossing the coast of far north Queensland, people took shelter in small confined pockets of security underneath closed-in houses, in cramped bathrooms, and other seemingly strong areas within buildings...The resilience of humanity never ceases to amaze me. These paintings do not celebrate the darkness but endeavour to understand it.”
Through one particular work in the series, Rowe - who considers himself a Christian portraying “a fallen world where there is still great hope, which never becomes recognised in the darkness” - is also exploring what he refers to as The Genesis Parody. In this, “figures exist in a void where they are subject to BELOW: The Stone Weaver [detail], 2012, Oil on canvas, 70 x 125 cm OVERLEAF: The Genesis Parody, 2011, Oil canvas, 100 x 150 cm
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assemblage and deconstruction by the creator.” This is directly linked to his view of the competing schools of thought; the presence of a creator or God, or evolution. He likens The Genesis Parody again to his experience in Ingham during Cyclone Yasi, where people crammed into buildings. “With no electrical lighting; these small, overcrowded conditions drew a parallel to the closeness of the figures in The Genesis Parody while the storm passed over. Looking out into the storm, one would perceive that no life existed within it.”
The Landscape Images have taken on many forms over the years. Those which were created in the same time period as The Dark Pictures “still echo a negative atmosphere, again acting out the dramatic.” When looking ahead to his most recent Landscape and Figurative Works - which unify the landscape and the figure these works are a significant stepping stone as they provide the landscape with
an almost human voice, and the artist asserts that “the landscape deeply suffers emotionally in some close comparison to humanity.” The more recent triptych landscapes are quite separate stylistically and present an alternative vision to, even an escape from, works the artist had been creating during his challenging times. “The triptych landscapes…portray a much lighter view of life…Placing them together with a central large image resembles an altarpiece or, if you like, the Trinity…these images exist wholly in my mind forming the illusion of a special tranquil place where one can take their family to enjoy the landscape. Nothing sinister exists in the paintings resulting in a perfect utopia. These images were a welcome sanctuary.”
Perhaps key to Rowe’s proficiency as a painter are his drawings, which are seen by the artist as an escape from the meticulous and demanding nature of his September, 2011, Oil on canvas, 70.5 x 169.5 cm
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complex paintings, but also as a valuable process in informing their conceptual and stylistic development. Indeed, it is the immediacy of the process that charms him. “Graphite work enabled a faster rendition of ideas and working on a smaller scale enabled a corridor for enhanced detail. Hieronymus Bosch was the first Surrealist and I believe I have used some of his concepts in my drawings. Every time you extract complex colour…the freedom to become more complex in design manifests. The drawings incorporate nearly all the aspects of my work, although they are generally treated as preliminary sketches for future oil paintings.”
His most recent works are a reconciliation of the styles and concepts he’s explored throughout his career;
surrealism, tonality, the emotive connection and the landscape. As with all of his previous work these are informed by his drawings. These Landscape and Figurative Works are noteworthy as they represent his most significant step toward achieving the unique personal vision he strives for. This series is such a recent revelation for the artist that only two completed examples, Earth Womb and Cavity, are included in SURVEY THIS! Rowe states that these... “powerful images explore the male form as a negative space filled by an earthly image… By minimalising the structure these two paintings envelope the idea of hope, and although very surreal, are still portrayed in darkness.”
Flooding the Manipulatives, 2011, Oil on canvas, 67 x 106 cm
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Throughout Rowe’s work he challenges himself, both technically and emotionally. But he also challenges his audience. While he is laying his soul to bare in many of his works, he also shrouds their personal significance and is hesitant to talk about them openly, instead preferring the audience to attribute their own meanings.
presenting clues and icons that can mean any number of things to any number of people. However, it is on learning the personal motivation for the works that they become something more; no longer is Rowe only a highly proficient painter of complex imagery, he is also a complex person exploring universal themes.
The audience is able to do this to a degree as Rowe cleverly layers his works,
Eric Nash
Co-curator Earth Womb, 2011, Oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm