D a v i d
A s p d e n
the colour of nature
the colour of nature 6 - 27 August, 2016
Š Utopia Art Sydney
“For me the nature of colour is the colour of nature. ” Nature being so various colours are endless. I am challenged by the colours that can be found in the air, wind and weather, as well as more easily recognisable colours in the tangible world of nature.”
David Aspden artist statement, Orange Regional Art Gallery David Aspden: Celebration of Colour. 2002
The Colour of Nature David Aspden is regarded as one of Australia’s foremost colourists. Although considered mainly an abstract painter, there is a definite sense of the inspiration behind them, the rhythmic pulsing of music, or the patterns of the landscape. Aspden captured in his landscapes both light and colour, the movement of the wind in trees and over water, and a recollection of specific senses and memories of place. Within this exhibition can be seen three distinctive Aspden styles. There are a group of softer lyrical paintings, of birds in flight and the dappled light of gardens and bushland. In Brown Study 1993, Bush with Birds 1993-4 and Canyonleigh 1994, we can see the flashes of rosellas in flight through the tree trunks; the shadows and silhouettes of the canopy against the sunlight represented by dappled marks across the canvas. In Bushscape 1999, we see the landscape reflected in the Hawkesbury River, the dense bush along the river broken up into fragments by the surface of the water, the glint of sunlight scattered throughout. The most vibrant painting in the exhibition is Coffs Harbour 1988, the vivid colours of the subtropical landscape in interlocking shapes. It is how we remember a place, the colour of a wall, the changing shapes of the clouds, the sunlight moving over the hills. Imposing in its three-metre height, Jazz 1975 is dark and dramatic. Our eyes gently drift downward through the painting, finding both patterns and apparent randomness.
Underlying dark shapes are the bass, pulsing and constant, and the lighter smaller marks dance over the surface like melodic riffs. The four Jazz series 1986 paper works show the music in a different way, the colours contrasting and complementing, cacophonous and harmonic. In a similar way Aspden utilises the same jagged shapes from the Jazz series in Sunrise 1990-91, the expanse of gold and yellow broken into shards, like sunlight itself. Here he revisits his work that won him the gold medal award at the Sao Paolo Biennial in Brazil in 1971. Clouds 1994, a painting of the same long dimensions, is the other extreme of Aspden’s use of these shapes, but here the edges are diffused, the shapes softer and drifting gently across the sky. Many of the works on paper are from his visits to Arnhem Land and Papua New Guinea. Aspden’s marks become almost tribal, reducing the identity of place to symbols, of what could be seen and what can be sensed. He was aware of how these places were interpreted by their inhabitants, through their body decoration and artefacts. Aspden is an artist well respected by other artists. His work is still being acquired by major public collections such as the National Gallery of Australia and is in important corporate and public collections. The paintings in this exhibition cover a period of twenty-five years from 1975 to 2001. We can see how his ideas develop, are revisited and his language taken in different directions. Although some are now 40 years old, they are timeless yet still contemporary.
Many thanks to Karen Aspden for her invaluable insight and assistance with this exhibition. Brett Stone
#2, Landslide, 1997, oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm
#3, Black Music, 1996, oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm
#4, Brown Study, 1993, oil on canvas, 153 x 123 cm
#5, Canyonleigh, 1994, oil on canvas, 150 x 245 cm
#6, Bush with Birds, 1993 - 94, oil on linen, 61 x 244 cm
#7, Bushscape (Easter), 1994, oil on canvas, 153 x 123 cm
#8, Bushscape,1999 oil on canvas, 150 x 245 cm
#9, Coffs Harbour, 1988, oil on linen, 166 x 303 cm
“Aspden has been described as a composer of paintings, a fitting description given his passion for jazz. His early work, which established his reputation, was more hard-edged, but his later pictures are more lyrical. He experimented with repetitive patterns and interlocking shapes, tone and colours, reminiscent of mosaics or jigsaws.� Bronwyn Watson, the Australian, 21/2/2105
#17, Jazz, 1976, acrylic on canvas, 305 x 158 cm
#10, Untitled III (Jazz Series), 1986, acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
#11, Untitled II (Jazz Series), 1986, acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
#12, Untitled IV (Jazz Series), 1986, acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
#13, Untitled I (Jazz Series), 1986, acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
#20, Black Cockatoos and Kingfishers 1982, acrylic on paper, 91.5 x 70 cm
#19, Dry Creek NT, 1982, acrylic on paper, 91.5 x 70 cm
#18, Arnhem Landscape, 1981, acrylic on paper, 62 x 50 cm
#1, Coral Beach II, 1982, ink & acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
#14, PNG Study I, 1982 ink on paper, 28.5 x 23 cm
#15, PNG Study II, 1982 ink on paper, 21.5 x 31 cm
#16, PNG Study III, 1982 acrylic & ink on paper, 27 x 36.5 cm
“Aspden had a passion for jazz and forms of classical music, which he did not treat as a mere backdrop to the lonely process of putting paint on canvas in the studio. Stand in front of his paintings and their musicality is obvious – from the dense, smudgy forms that suggest the polyphonic complexities of modern jazz, to his 1981 works on paper made after a journey to New Britain. Here the forms are short and staccato, like quick, rhythmic drumbeats or chants. John McDonald SMH, 26/8/2011
#27, After Brazil, 1989, acrylic on paper, 24 x 35 cm
#21, PNG Symbols, 1982, ink on paper, 57 x 76 cm
#22, Boat Race, 1998, acrylic pastel on paper, 16.5 x 29 cm #23, Study For Bushscape, 1998, acrylic pastel on paper, 32.5 x 26 cm
#24, Seasons of Drought IV, 1997, acrylic on paper on canvas 52 x 77 cm
Pennant Hills, 1975-1995, acrylic & oil on canvas, 95 x 59 cm
25# Clouds, 1994, oil on linen, 61 x 244 cm
26# Sunrise, 1990 - 91, oil on linen, 61 x 244 cm
“Colour field painters including David Aspden combined the use of colour and music in new and innovative ways. Aspden’s lifelong interest in music enabled him to develop an individual system of colour and form that made reference to a variety of musical traditions.” Colour and Art Revisiting 1919, essay by Christopher Dean, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, 2008
#28, Late Summer, 1974, oil on canvas, 236 x 162 cm
the colour of nature 6 - 27 August, 2016
Utopia Art Sydney 2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW 2017 Telephone: + 61 2 9699 2900 email: utopiaartsydney@ozemail.com.au www.utopiaartsydney.com.au Š Utopia Art Sydney
Utopia Art Sydney 2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW 2017 Telephone: + 61 2 9699 2900 email: utopiaartsydney@ozemail.com.au www.utopiaartsydney.com.au