R ICHARD M CL EAN Back to Basics: 50 Recent Drawings “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein
“You yourself, as much as anyone in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Gautam Buddha
Exhibition & Print Catalogue January 2011
Foreword Richard McLean and I met in Melbourne in December 2006. It was quite literally an about-face, a nose-to-nose “G’day!” in a crowded room (its atmosphere frosty), and a clamorous cascading of metaphysics, literature and art that cemented, then and there, our enduring brotherhood. I was honoured but, wanting to do his accomplished work justice, also somewhat nervous when he recently proposed I pen a few thoughts for Back to Basics: 50 Recent Drawings. Most of the images in this collection were presented to me over many months – via email, and confidently, as is Rich’s way – as works in progress: simple black and whites, their shadings, colours and accents not yet annexed. Even in such early stages I was struck by the unflinching candour, the
resolution of these pieces to become fully realised masterstrokes. For me, as a fellow artist, there was no greater thrill, no greater privilege (a rare one at that!) than observing a friend at play.
dinghy moored on still waters, revives the tremulous lyrics of an early ‘90s Number 1. And ‘Sea Creature’, though at first glance monstrous, evokes a warm and magical humour.
From the electricity of a Crucifixion and the heavily pregnant storm clouds swarming above a suburban space, to the muted transparencies of his studio and the sunrise with his beloved Golden retriever, McLean here asserts his unrivalled eye. His portraits – the pathos in unrest, the nervous contemplation in new love – abide and shimmer like an evergreen’s leaves. The cold Black Hand crumbling a child’s toy in the radiating white light of a full moon demands an awareness of the current and controversial struggle for globalisation of government. ‘Under the Bridge’, while of a
The ability to perceive the space between spaces, to capture both sides of the coin, to honour both the darkness and the light is what makes Richard McLean’s art so accessible, so human, so compelling – and so lyrical. Like Sylvia Plath’s Ariel, or Anne Sexton’s Live or Die, this body of work is one of transformation: ‘Violent Sunrise’ mirrors the climax of Plath’s titular poem: “And I/ Am the arrow,/The dew that flies/Suicidal, at one with the drive/Into the red/Eye, the cauldron of morning” – the masculine self actively marries its equal, masculine power. The marmoreal ‘Sweet Peace’, the punning
‘Hands with Glove’ with its golden bloom attract like pollen the waxing words of Sexton’s ‘Live’: “So I won’t hang around in my hospital shift,/repeating The Black Mass and all of it./I say Live, Live because of the sun,/ the dream, the excitable gift.” These fifty excitable gifts speak for themselves: of a past, a present, and a future. Richard McLean is not wintering – his “bees are flying. They taste the spring.” STUART BARNES, Dec 2010 Quotes: lines from ‘Ariel’ and ‘Wintering’ by Sylvia Plath from Ariel, Faber and Faber Limited, 1965; lines from ‘Live’ by Anne Sexton from Live or Die, Houghton Mifflin, 1966.
‘Unsettling Winds’ Conte, Acrylic, Pencil, Wash, Digitally Enhanced. Print Edition - 20
‘Christ Consciousness’ Conte, Pencil, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Working Sketch - “Unsettling Winds”’ Conte, Pencil, Wash. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘New Day with Steinberg’ Texta, Acrylic, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Will You Marry Me? (featuring Steve Iasonidis!)’ Compressed Charcoal, Oil Stick, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Mordialloc Sunset, Main St Cafe’ Texta, Acrylic, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Working Sketch, Mordialloc Sunset, Main St Cafe’ Texta, Acrylic, House Paint. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘Still Life, Blundstones’ Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
‘Rental at Mordialloc’ Pencil, Charcoal, Acrylic, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Under the Bridge, Mordialloc Creek’ Oil Stick, Acrylic. Print Edition - 20
‘Telstra’ Texta, Acrylic, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Violent Sunrise’ Ink, Acrylic, Pencil, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Healing’ Texta, Acrylic, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Through the Kitchen Window’ Compressed Charcoal, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Recycling’ Conte, Compressed Charcoal, Pencil, Acrylic. Print Edition - 20
‘Thinking of a friend in Afghanistan’ Ink, Compressed Charcoal, Biro. Print Edition - 20
‘Working Sketch for “Thinking of a friend in Afghanistan”’ Compressed Charcoal, Wash. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘David’s Demons’ Charcoal, Oil Pastel, House Paint. Print Edition - 20
‘David, Digital Drawn over Portrait’ Charcoal, Oil Pastel, House Paint. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘Election Day, 2010’ Charcoal, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Portrait of Steve’ Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
‘Purgatory’ Compressed Charcoal, Pencil, Oil Stick. Print Edition - 20
‘Singularity’ Terracotta Sculpture with Metal Gold Glazes. 50 cm x 37 cm x 51 cm
‘Singularity’ Compressed Charcoal, Acrylic, House Paint. Print Edition - 20
‘Self-Portait, “Burnt Out” in Red T-Shirt’ Pencil, Oil Stick, Compressed Charcoal, House Paint. Print Edition - 20
‘Braques Institution’ Oil Stick, Acrylic. Print Edition - 20
‘A Brief View in No-Particular-Order’ Compressed Charcoal, Pencil, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Early Days’ Compressed Charcoal, Pencil. Print Edition - 20
‘Bodhisattva Wheels’ (Detail) Ink, Wash, Pencil, Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
‘Twenty Years’ Ink, Wash, Pencil, Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
(Above) ‘Spoon-Fed’ Digital Print. A4 Print Edition - 20
(Below) ‘Spoon-Fed Montage, initial sketch’ Multimedia, Montage.
(Right) ‘Spoon-Fed Montage’ Multimedia, Montage. Print Edition - 20
‘Blockage II (Brother in Crisis)’ Oil Stick. Print Edition - 20
‘Untitled’ Lithoprint (1993)
‘Blockage I’ Oil Pastel, Pencil, Ink Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Princess Bridge Sketch’ Ink, Wash. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘(Selections from) Newspaper-Man Series’ Ink, Pencil. (1993)
‘Macrocarpa I’ Conte, Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
‘Stop’ Pencil. Print Edition - 20
‘Idea for Studio Sketch’ Ink, Pencil, Wash, Mixed Media. Print Edition - 20
‘Untitled’ Photograph Print Edition - 20
‘Sweet Peace’ Digital Print, Compressed Charcoal, Pencil, Oil Stick, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Apart with Faith’ Charcoal, Compressed Charcoal, Pencil. Print Edition - 20 ‘Together; Company’ Compressed Charcoal. Print Edition - 20
‘Street Scene’ Ink, Acrylic. Print Edition - 20 (1993)
‘Stairs to Flinders Street’ Ink, Pencil. (1993)
‘Where Federation Square Now Is.’ Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20 (1993)
‘Rapid Sketch of Flinders Street and “Young and Jacksons’’’ Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20 (1993)
‘Base digital drawing for cover image, “Sweet Peace”’. Digital Print Print Edition - 3
‘Sea Creature (microscopic), overlayed with Golden Proportions’ Photocopy of Bitumen Drawing, Digitally Enhanced. Print Edition - 20
‘Ross Leonard’ Compressed Charcoal, Wash. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘Stubborn’ Compressed Charcoal, Wash. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘Mirrored Anxiety’ Compressed Charcoal, Oil Stick, Oil Pastel, Silver Paper. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘The Curse of Facebook’ Black Ink Stamp, Compressed Charcoal. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘St Paul’s Cathedral’ Ink, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘Seated Man’ Compressed Charcoal, Wash. Print Edition - 20
‘QWERTY’ Oil Pastel, Acrylic. Print Edition - 20
‘Hands with Glove’ Ink, Acrylic, Yellow Plastic Print Edition - 20
‘Wrestle’- Study I Ink. ‘Wrestle’- Study II Ink. ‘The State of Things’ Digitized Drawing with Texta and Acrylics on silver paper. Print Edition - 20
‘Wrestle’ Oil Stick Print Edition - 20
‘Shed Your Skin’ Digitized Drawing. A4 Print Edition - 5
‘Re-Birth’ Digitized Drawing. A4 Print Edition - 5
‘Palm-Tree-Target’ Digital Drawing. A4 Print Edition - 20
‘Shite’ Texta, Oil Pastel. Print Edition - 20
‘Complexity (Mathematical Avant-Garde)’ Ink, Pencil. A4 Print Edition - 5
‘Palm-Tree-Postcard’ Ink, Pencil. (1993)
‘Untitled Digital Sketch’ Digitalized Drawing Print Edition - 20
‘The Four Winds with The Comet: Mandalla’ Digital Drawing Print Edition - 20
Ordering a print. Most of the pieces in this catalogue are acquirable as A3 prints in an edition of 20. (Unless otherwise stated within)
Pricing: A3 prints - $80.00 per piece. Selected A4 prints - $40.00 per piece. The pieces are printed with lightfast permanent pigment inks, signed of the edition. (20). When the edition runs out, that piece will no longer be available. The paper I choose to use is INNOVA papers, with a subtle tooth, is acid free, and has museum grade conservation. Because of space constrictions, some of the images within this catalogue are not exhibited. They are still available for acquisition as originals, or prints. Please email me at richie@richiemclean.com with the title of the piece(s) you would like. Include your preferred return email address, name, contact number, and postal address. ‘World Turned Upside Down with Love’ Digital Print. Print Edition - 20
I’ll promptly contact you to thank you and arrange delivery of your new unique art!
Thanks for your support. RMcL.
If you are not totally satisfied a full refund will be available.
‘Spirit Presents’ : Digital Montage From Sketches : Print Edition - 20
www.richiemclean.com Commissions, ordering & enquiries: richie@richiemclean.com Concept, Art & Design by Richard McLean. Printed by C.J.M. Graphics, Melbourne. First Published January, 2011.