Peter Maloney
IN TIME online 2021
utopia art sydney
Peter Maloney IN TIME (Cronos) Across the centuries, year in, and year out, time – it seems – waits for no one. Time itself, of course, is a social construct – a framework of logic imposed upon the abstract, the intangible – the ineffable. In Greek mythology, Cronos was the leader of the first generation of the Titans – divine descendants of Gaia, or mother earth. Prior to the development of Greek city-states, Ancient Egyptian astronomers had already codified time into identifiable accounts for day and night. Greek philosophers, including Pythagoras, assimilated the Egyptian methods of considering time, into the conventions of twelve hours of day and twelve hours of night, that remain familiar to us today. This system effectively calibrates the complexities of modern life – providing a framework for its functions, as we adhere to the requirements of Cronos – chronology – to schedules and timetables. We have watches, diaries, and calendars to reflect our contemporary commitment to these conventions. Pythagoras also devised the Greek cross, and its characteristics of four arms of equal length and thickness – symbolising air, fire, water, and earth – the essential elements of Gaia – symbolic of natural harmony. Maloney employs this device as emblematic of personal experience, and his awareness of the fragility of life in all its forms. We live in the time of the Anthropocene – when the effects of human civilisation on the natural world seem to be moving dramatically towards incipient change. Maloney’s highly charged, yet intimate new series of works, draw parallels between our own experiences and memories of fire-ravaged landscapes and the damage wrought by illness to human pathology. The painted surfaces of these works are frequently devised with earth-toned pigments, composed from richly hued iron and copper oxides. Web like formations – appearing as curlicues of smoke, amoebas, or microscopic elements – float on, or are embedded within, apparently corrosive
topographies. This pictorial terrain reflects, in turn, the elements symbolised by the Greek cross – appearing in Maloney’s work for the first time. At other times, the artist returns to his serial fascination with typography and the interplay of pulp media headlines, intimate provocation and public confrontation. Posing as junk collage, the images are, in fact, carefully scripted, and meticulously painted works, in which Maloney engages with themes of corruption, decaying moral consciousness, hypocrisy, and references taboos, foreboding, and impending disaster. The resulting imagery frames a dissonant visual chorus, produced in a related chord to his more ethereal, curvilinear abstract compositions – even if the score has been played in a different key. The works displayed under the title, IN TIME, capture Maloney’s ongoing dialogue with abstraction – with the intangible – the ineffable – and the unconscious – while continuing a line of enquiry regarding the dismantling of social shibboleths. These works align themselves with the imagery of text, while simultaneously articulating the language of abstraction. In effect, this exhibition summarises the artist’s life in art – as rumination on the exigency of time itself. As the clock ticks away, and days of the month are crossed off the pages of his diary, at this time of his life, Maloney takes advantage of advancing years to both gain, and provide perspective. The resulting works unquestionably display the artist’s sagacity – retaining the raw power characteristic of youthful expression, while knowingly embracing the painterly effects that reflect a lifetime’s commitment to studio practice. Mark Bayly September 2021 Mark Bayly is a Canberra-based curator. He and Peter Maloney have been partners since 1995.
cat. 1, DRY, 2021, graphite and acrylic on paper, 81 x 66 cm
cat. 2, FURIOUS WEATHER, 2021, acrylic and verdigris base on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 3, DOUBLE HORSE, 2021, verdigris base, rust base,acrylic, and collage on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 4, PSYCHIC POOL, 2021, verdigris base and graphite on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 5, KISS, 2020, verdigris base, graphite and acrylic on paper 76 x 56 cm
cat. 6, SEAWEED LULLABY, 2021, acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 7, SEX CROSS, 2021, verdigris base and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 8, TANGLED STARS ARRIVE, 2021, acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 9, DAYS OF RABBIT, 2020, verdigris base and graphite on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 10, EQUINE TRACT, 2020, verdigris,graphite and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 11, JAW, 2020, verdigris, graphite and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 12, FACE MASK, 2020, acrylic and graphite on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 13, NOTHING LASTS, 2020, graphite and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 14, HOUSES, 2020, verdigris, rust base, collage and acrylic on paper, 49 x 37 cm
cat. 15, EXPLOSIONS IN THE BAY, 2019, verdigris base, rust base and acrylic on paper, 66 x 64.5 cm
cat. 16, FACE TO FACE, 2021, acrylic and rust base on paper, 73 x 56 cm
cat. 17, INTERSTELLAR QUORUM, 2021, rust base and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 18, JELLYFISH ASH, 2021, acrylic and rust base on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 19, HOLE IN HEAD, 2020, rust base,verdigris base on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 20, FIRE, 2020, acrylic and rust base on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 21, HELL ON EARTH, 2017, rust base and acrylic on paper, 76 x 66 cm
cat. 22, MAN OF CARBON, 2015, collage and graphite on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 23, HEAD AND FEET, 2016, collage, graphite and acrylic on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 24, DARK PEARLS , 2015, collage, graphite and acrylic on paper, 74 x 55 cm
cat. 25, ARTISTS PAID, 2012, acrylic and graphite on paper,112 x 77 cm
cat. 26, HANG AN ABSTRACT, 2012, acrylic and graphite on paper, 112 x 77cm
cat. 27, SOMETHING DIFFERENT, 2020, graphite and acrylic on paper, 73 x 55 cm
cat. 28, PETER AND BLACK CAT, 2020, graphite and acrylic on paper, 74 x 55 cm
cat. 29, APPALLING FILM STAR, 2017, graphite and acrylic on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 30, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD ?, 2016, graphite and acrylic on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 31 , CHICKEN SOLD ICE, 2017, graphite, acrylic on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 32, LIZ HITS AT NUDES IN FILMS, 2017, graphite and acrylic on paper, 76 x 56 cm
cat. 33, LIZ TAYLORS CRITICS, 2012, acrylic, graphie and collage on paper, 76 x 57cm
cat. 34, LIZ TAYLOR’S WEEPING, 2012, graphite and acrylic on paper, 76 x 57 cm
Peter Maloney Born 1953 Western Australia Lives and works in Canberra, ACT Education 1976-78 Diploma Painting and Post Graduate Victorian College of the Arts Diploma of Painting, Canberra School of Art Solo Exhibitions 2019 2018 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2010 2009 2005 2004 2002. 2001 1999. 1998 1997. 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990
‘FUNHOUSE’, Utopia Art Sydney ‘Lost Continent’, Utopia Art Sydney ‘Missing In Action’, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, Canberra ‘TO AUSTRALIA!’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Major Suspect’, School of Art Gallery, ANU, ACT ‘Fairy Stories in the Penny Arcade’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Peter Maloney: A Focus’, Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW ‘Radar & Other Fabulous Colours’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘ENTERORDONT’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Bodies In Trouble’ Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House, Canberra, ACT ‘Gone Tomorrow’, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra, ACT ‘Hooliganism’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Zombie’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Peter Maloney And The 7 Lies’, Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra, ACT ‘thin air’, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT ‘Treacle Sleep’, Room 35, Sydney, NSW ‘Photographic Works’, Photospace, Canberra School of Art, ACT ‘Is this the way to Round-the-World?’, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, NSW ‘GO TO HELL’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Bad Moon Rising’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Invisible’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Séance’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Dying In the Midday Sun’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Fresh Paintings About Nature’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Paintings and Drawings’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Paintings and Drawings’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Selected Group Exhibitions 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
‘MCA Collection: Perspectives on Place’ Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Highlights from the ANU Art Collection, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, ACT ‘Sydney Contemporary 2019’, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW ‘Paintings amongst other things’, ANU School of Art and Design Gallery, ANU, ACT ‘Sydney Contemporary 2017’, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW ‘Museum III’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘The National 2017: New Australian Art’, MCA, Sydney 2016 ‘The Last Hurrah’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Postcards from the Edge’, benefit for Visual AIDS, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, USA 2015 ‘Lost and Profound’, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, NSW 2014 ‘Loose Canon’ Artbank, Sydney, NSW ‘Artist – Book’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Abstraction’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Action Stations: Peter Maloney and Louise Paramor’, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT 2013 ‘The Salon’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Test Pattern’, Sydney University Art Gallery, NSW ‘No Boundaries’, Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre, VIC
2012
‘Abstraction’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Test Pattern’, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, VIC ‘Paperworks’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Word of Mouth: encounters with abstract art’, Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT ‘Repertoire’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Abstraction II’, Charles Nodrum Gallery, VIC 2011 ‘AAA – Australian Abstract Art’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Artist Artists’, Benalla Art Gallery, VIC ‘View of Outer Space from an Aquarium’, Famous Accountants, Brooklyn, New York, USA 2010 ‘Lost Horizon’ Exile Gallery, Berlin, Germany ‘Something in the Air: Collage and assemblage in Canberra region art, Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2010’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC ‘This Way Up’, M16 Galley, Canberra, ACT 2009 ‘Abstraction’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2008 ‘Australian Abstraction’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘The Melbourne Art Fair 2008’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Vic ‘Pairs of Paintings’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2007 ‘The Brotherhood’ Neon Parc, Melbourne, VIC ‘The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize 2007’, Bendigo Art Gallery, VIC ‘Liz Coats – time and motion, Helen Eager – plains to mountains, Peter Maloney – electric planchette’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘The Brotherhood’ Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, NSW ‘Turning 20’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2006 ‘Sixth Drawing Biennale’, The Drill Hall Gallery, the Australian National University, Canberra, ACT ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2006’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC ‘TarraWarra Biennial 2006, Parallel Lives: Australian Painting Today’, TarraWarra Museum of Art, VIC ‘National Works on Paper 2006’, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC ‘Bits and Pieces abstract art’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2005 ‘from big things little things grow’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Sydney v Melbourne’, Silvershot, Melbourne, VIC ‘Museum II’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘New Ideas 2005’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘Thinner in the Flesh’, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW ‘Red Eyes & Sticky Fingers: Collage & Photomedia’, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, NSW 2004 ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2004’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC ‘Depth of Field – Anamorphosis’, artists explore ‘Absolute Matte’ a new paint from Chroma Australia, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2003 ‘Mingarri Revisited, Weather Reports, New Figures – Marea Gazzard, Peter Maloney, John Bursill’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW 2002 ‘The Year In Review’, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW ‘2002: The Year In Art’, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2002’, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC 2001 ‘Museum’, Utopia Art Sydney, VIC ‘Coincidence’, Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra, ACT ‘A Studio In Paris’, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW 2000 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD ‘Ecstasy’, Wessel +O'Connor Gallery, New York City, NY 1999 ‘Selected Photographic Works’, Wessel + O'Connor Gallery, New York City, NY ‘Guardia del Corpo’, il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy ‘Good Grief’, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, QLD 1996 ‘Head’, Doggett St Studio, Brisbane, QLD ‘Fifth Australian Contemporary Art Fair’, Melbourne, VIC ‘Floressence’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Newcastle, Campbelltown and Tamworth Galleries, NSW 1995 ‘Drawings Part B’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Up, Down and Across’, Campbelltown City Art Gallery, NSW ‘Summer Exhibition’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW 1994 ‘Fourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair’, Melbourne, VIC ‘10 Big Works’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Drawings’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Pat Larter's Rhythms + Pete Maloney's Blues’, Rom Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Peter Maloney 1992. 1991 1990 1981
‘Tempest’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Works From Stock and Studio’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘The Max Watters Collection’, Muswellbrook Gallery, NSW ‘Group Show of Five’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Works on Paper’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘When Love Blooms’, Legge Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Legge Preview’, Watters Gallery, Sydney, NSW ‘Jacaranda Art Society, Works on Paper’, Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW ‘Drawings’, Powel St Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Awards 2021 Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, PLC, Sydney 2004 ACT Artist Grant 2002 Australia Council Studio, Green Street, New York 2000 Capital Arts Patrons Organisation (CAPO) grant 1998 Visiting Artist Painting Workshop, Canberra School of Art Gunnery Studio, NSW Ministry for the Arts Sydney Gay + Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival Grant 1997 New Work Grant, Australia Council 1996 Dr Denise Hickey Memorial Studio, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris France Collections ACT Legislative Assembly Art Collection Art Gallery of New South Wales Artbank Allens Sydney Australian National University Canberra Museum and Art Gallery Ipswich Regional Art Gallery, Queensland King & Wood Mallesons, Melbourne Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney National Gallery of Australia Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW New England Regional Art Museum, NSW Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Wessel + O'Connor, NY, USA Adelaide Perry Gallery, PLC, Croydon, Sydney Audio 2000 1986 1985 1982.
‘World of Petrol’, audio cd, collaboration ‘Kalt in Colombia’, audio for feature film, dir. Dieter Schidor ‘Die Einem den Anderen’, audio for video, Marcel Odenbach, Cologne ‘DUST’, audio cassette ‘France/Australie’ (audio artists), Art/Concept/Research, Paris
Videos 2011 ‘nuntitled’ 1999 ‘Particle’ 1995
‘G.L.DOA + D.H.DOA’
Publications Sasha Grishin, ‘This huge ANU exhibition comments on a vibrant visual culture’, The Canberra Times, 22/8/18 Caren Florance, `Action and re-action’, Art Monthly, August 2018 Sasha Grishin, ‘A complex multilayered show reflecting a creative man’s private life’, SMH, 4/5/18 Peter Maloney: Missing In Action, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, exhibition catalogue, April 2018 Giselle Stanborough ‘Peter Maloney: To Australia!’ Art Almanac, April, 2017 Straight To Hell, Issue #68, April 9, 2015 Peter Haynes, ‘Action Stations: Peter Maloney, Louise Parmor’, Canberra Times, September 19, 2014 Alexander Boynes, ‘Action Stations: Peter Maloney & Louise Paramor’, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, 2014 Tracey Clement, ‘Artbank opens the vault’, Art Guide Australia, August 2014 [illustration] Mitchell Oakley Smith, ‘Artbank expands in size and remit’, Manuscript, August 2014 [illustration] Exhibition brief, ‘Peter Maloney A Focus at Newcastle Art Gallery’, Art Almanac, April 2014 Stevens, Michael, ‘a distant book lifted,’, Suicide Press, Texas, 2014 (cover image) ‘Peter Maloney: Radar & Other Fabulous Colous’, exhibition catalogue [online] with essay by Chloe Watson, Utopia Art Sydney, 2013 Stevens, Michael: “The Road to Interzone”, (Reading William S. Burroughs), Suicide Press, Texas, 2009 ‘Peter Maloney – Hooliganism’, Rhana Devenport, Lino, issue no. 9, 2005 Academic References In ‘Noisy’ Works, Sonia Barron, Canberra Times, August 20, 2001 Art Monthly, August, 2001 ‘Flourishing Abstraction’, Sonia Barron, Canberra Times, June 6, 2001 ‘The Mark In Question’, Christopher Heathcote, Art and Australia, vol 37, no 4, 2000 ‘Fractured Words’, Sonia Barron, The Canberra Times, November 30, 1999 ‘Thin Air’, catalogue, Deborah Clark ‘Mailart’, The Pat Larter Archive, Bruce James, Sydney Morning Herald, august 7,1999 ‘Treacle sleep’, Eyeline # 38, Blair French ‘Confronting the Harsh Reality’, Canberra Times, June 23 1998, Myra McIntyre ‘Treacle Sleep’, Sydney Star Observer, November 1998 Daniel Mudie Cuningham, ‘Photofile #53’, April 1998, Bruce James Sydney Star Observer ‘Is this the way to Round-the World?’ March 1998 Daniel Mudie Cunningham ‘(Not Only) Blue’, June 1997, Mark Bayly ‘Against the Grain’, PhotoAccess, Canberra, spring/summer issue, Mark Bayly Sydney Morning Herald, July 1997, Bruce James ‘Is this the way to Round-the-World?’, catalogue, Bruce James Sydney Gay + Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival Guide 1998, Mark Bayly Sydney Morning Herald, Metro, August 30 1996, S. Smee Sydney Morning Herald, Galleries, Bruce James ‘Bad Moon Rising’, catalogue essay, Mark Bayly Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Masonite Man Heads West’, September 2 1995, John Mcdonald ‘Talkabout’, June 1994, Andrew Thomas-Clark The Australian, June 2 1994, Elwyn Lynn Sydney Review, July 1992, Jaques Delaruelle Sydney Review, July 1991, Jaques Delaruelle Art Monthly, July 1991, Christopher Allen The Weekend Australian, May 12 1990, Andrew Hobbs + Andrew Inwood Sydney Morning Herald, May 11 1990, John Mcdonald Lothar Lambert: Film Maker, 1990, pub. Berlin, author Stephan Menche International Film Festival Catalogue, Berlin, 1986 Dieter Schidor
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