Erwin Fabian
Recent Sculpture
2 - 27 May 2015
Robin Gibson Gallery modern + contemporary
Erwin Fabian
recent sculpture | an exhibition to celebrate Erwin Fabian’s 100th year Opening Tuesday 5 May 6-8pm 2 – 27 May 2015 Erwin Fabian is one of Australia’s most significant living sculptors and in this sense he is one of the elders of the Australian art world. He works predominantly with different types of scrap metal and these materials he transforms into a new natural order. Some of the pieces have monumental proportions in this exhibition which exceed two metres, others are more miniature table sculptures. What is common in all of his sculptures is his remarkable ability to transform pieces of scrap metal into meaningful sculptural forms which have a huge presence, a distinct identity and which speak of a new natural order. He has that rare ability in that he is able to create a new and convincing reality through which the viewer can be seduced, enchanted and captivated. Although his sculptures are non-figurative and do not imitate anything representational in the seen world, in the final analysis his sculptural creations do belong to the grand tradition of humanist sculpture. In other words, they interact with us on a human and emotive level: we come to believe in their existence not only as aesthetic objects, but as metaphors for the human spirit. Although Erwin Fabian has been exhibiting for about half a century, his work with time has grown in intensity, refinement and in its distilled beauty. Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA The Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History Australian National University
Chorus 135x86x63cm steel $65,000
Epigram 116x68x60cm steel $55,000
Equation 31x23x17cm steel $27,500
Eutherpe 84x57x45cm steel $33,000
Lost Days 136x60x44cm steel $88,000
Shore 225x98x77cm steel $99,000
Sight Unseen 42x50x22cm steel $27,500
Viewfinder 74x36x17cm steel $33,000
Whim 112x48x25cm steel $45,500
Year 196x130x130cm steel $110,000
Erwin Fabian
Born in Berlin in 1915, son of the painter Max Fabian (1873-1926). Left for England in 1938, interned, and deported to Australia in 1940 on the troopship Dunera. After internment, joined the Australian Army, later transferred to the Army Education Unit, to do covers and illustrations for its ‘Current Affairs Bulletin’, until demobilisation in 1946. Left Australia for London in 1949. Worked as a graphic designer in London until the 1960s, lecturing in Graphic Design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Returned to Australia in 1962. Held his first exhibition of sculpture at the Hungry Horse Gallery in Sydney. In 2000-2001, a large retrospective exhibition, ‘Max und Erwin Fabian: Berlin – London – Melbourne’, was held in the Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais).
Solo Exhibitions 2015 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2013 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2013 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2011 Robin Gibson Galleries Sydney 2011 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2009 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2009 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2007 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2006 A Survey 1977 – 2004, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Melbourne and Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2005 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2004 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2002 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2000/1 Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais) with Max Fabian 1998 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 1996 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 1995 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 1989 Realities Gallery, Melbourne 1987 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 1985 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 1984 Realities Gallery, Melbourne 1980 Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 1980 Solander Gallery, Canberra 1977 Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne 1973 Bonython Gallery, Sydney 1965 Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney Selected Group Exhibitions 1989-2015 Annual Group Sculpture Exhibition, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney 2007 Small Pleasures: Painting and Sculpture, Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2006 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2004 Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne 2002 Axia Modern Art, Melbourne 1997 The Europeans: Emigre Artists in Australia1930-1960, National Gallery of Australia 1988-1994 Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne 1992 Meridian Gallery, Melbourne 1991 Australian Galleries, Melbourne 1981 First Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne 1979 New South Wales House, London 1973 Sculpturescape ’73, Mildura 1973 17th Tasmanian Art Gallery Exhibition 1968 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, England 1968 Clytie Jessop Gallery, London 1966 Australian Sculpture Centre, Canberra
Bibliography Bartmann, Dominik (2000) Max und Erwin Fabian. Berlin – London – Melbourne. Berlin Stadtmuseum, Berlin, Ephraim Palais. Butler, Roger, ed. (1997) The Europeans: Emigré Artists in Australia 1930-1960. Canberra, National Gallery of Australia. Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1954) vol. 4, London, Wingate. Designers in Britain, (Ray, Peter, ed.) (1957) vol. 5, London, Deutsch. Downer, Christine & Phipps, Jennifer (1985) Victorian Vision: 1834 Onwards: Images and Records from the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV. Germaine, Max (1979-1997) Artists and Galleries of Australia. Sydney, Landsdowne; Brisbane, Boolarong. Gombrich, Ernst (1960) Art and Illusion. London, Phaidon Press. Grant, Kirsty & Leahy, Cathy (2003) On Paper: Australian Prints and Drawings in the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne, NGV. McCulloch, Alan (1968, 1977, 1984) (Editions 1-3) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. Hawthorn, Hutchison. McCulloch, Susan (1994) (Revised 3rd edition) Encyclopedia of Australian Art. St Leonards, Allen & Unwin. McCullough, Tom (ed.) (1981) The First Australian Sculpture Triennial. First Australian Sculpture Triennial Committee, Bundoora. Saur, K.G. (2003) Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon: die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Voelker. München, Leipzig, Saur. Scarlett, Ken (1980) Australian Sculptors. Melbourne, Nelson. Vogue Living (1988, Spring) Steely resolve (Diana Bagnall). Who’s Who of Australian Visual Artists (1995) 2nd Edition. Thorpe, Port Melbourne, in association with the National Association for the Visual Arts.
Collections National Gallery of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales National Gallery of Victoria National Portrait Gallery, Canberra Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston High Court of Australia, Canberra Parliament House, Canberra Australian War Memorial, Canberra Commonwealth Art Advisory Board McClelland Gallery, Victoria University of Wollongong Art Collection British Museum, London Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin Kupferstich Kabinett, Berlin Stadtmuseum Berlin (Ephraim Palais) J端disches Museum, Berlin Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Collection, Langwarrin, Victoria Elgee Park Sculpture Collection, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria James Fairfax Collection, Sydney Michael Feller Collection, Sydney William Burge Collection, Sydney Kurt and Annette Baier Collection, New Zealand Margaret Tuckson Collection, Sydney Mr & Mrs R. Curry Collection, Sydney Richard & Carolyn Green Collection, Sydney Ruth Schaffner Collection, USA Anita & Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, Sydney
Robin Gibson Gallery modern + contemporary
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