V I C K I   VA R VA R ES SO S
V I C K I VA R VA R ES S O S N E W PA I N T I N G S In this exhibition….
…one can see at a glance that Vicki Varvaressos has plumbed new emotional depths. This happens when a preoccupation
that resonates very deeply and on every level infiltrates the artist’s painting. And,...as Joe Eisenberg points out in his essay, in this exhibition Varvaressos’s passion for painting and her passion for her garden, for flowers “are intertwined”.
How exciting, how very exciting, it must be when a final gesture completes a painting, resolves it, so that suddenly it
becomes a statement, out there, complete in itself. A miraculous moment which Varvaressos shares with us by way of her titles. For
23 MAY - 10 JUNE 2017
instance, the crescent in Black Crescent (front cover) has in one assured gesture given authority and cohesion to every part of that painting. What sudden inspiration lead to the rapidly drawn white swirls in Floating White (cat no. 14). Swirls that animate the whole painting. Likewise, one reads every part of Criss Cross (cat. no.5) in relation to the nest of red lines on the lower right.
Reading the paintings backwards, so to speak, from the finishing gesture, one becomes aware that each mark is necessary,
nothing is vicarious, although in the course of painting each mark emerged, or seemed to emerge “independently and mysteriously”.
Surely this booklet is the memento to something special.
OPENING WEDNESDAY 24 MAY 6 - 8PM
Geoffrey Legge
Front cover: 1. Black Crescent 2016 acrylic on canvas 91 x 151.5cm
Watters Gallery
109 Riley Street, East Sydney NSW 2010 Australia Tel: 61+ (02) 9331 2556
Email: Web: Hours:
info@wat tersgaller y.com www.wat tersgaller y.com tues and sat: 10am - 5pm wed, thurs, fri: 10am - 7pm
V ICK I VA RVA R ESSOS:
R ECEN T PA I N T I N GS
…abstract art is not something to love for itself, but is a language to be used to project important visual ideas.1 Some of our current “abstract” paintings are, in the best sense of the word, endowed with artistic life; they possess the throbbing of life, its radiance, and they exert an influence on [wo]man’s inner life via the eye.2
It is important to recall that, although Varvaressos paints figurative canvases as well as abstraction, it is always the visual experience for the viewer that is her aim and what drives her on. Thus, even the titles of the individual paintings are only there for identification, as she wants ‘the image to breathe, not spoil, the visual involvement.’ 7 The titles are certainly not to be used as literal translations for subject matter that, especially in this exhibition, does not exist. It is evident why Black Crescent (2016) is titled thus: there is one particular line that evokes this shape and colour. The subject, if it exists, is not, however, bound by this line. The painting is a furious mixture of scrawled lines intertwined by sheaves of colour that are backgrounded by a grey wash that fills edge of frame to edge of frame, and there is much more.
Simon Schama, the visual art historian, academic thinker and writer about most art subjects has, on a number of occasions, stated that
Inspecting canvas after canvas in this show there are always elements of surprise. Varvaressos, through her own fascination, enjoyment and
“Twombly” ought to be a verb meaning to hover thoughtfully tracing glyphs and graphs of mischievous suggestiveness, periodically touching
even passion, brings something new to each canvas - its own serious realization. The black scrawls that seem to float off the canvas, emerging
down amidst discharges of passionate intensity. Or “Twombly” may be a noun meaning a line with a mind of its own.’ 3
from the bland, back, backdrops are nevertheless delicate, ironic, and sometimes nervous. Each line has its own history and it certainly does
‘Varvaressos’ could also be a verb or a noun that, in this case, means to scrawl, draw and colour intuitively and with mystery, or lines and hues that shape themselves. Vicki Varvaressos’s current exhibition demonstrates the word at work. It also demonstrates how, like the pre-World
not illustrate or decorate but it does encircle, isolate and frame. This is more than evident in Purple Shard (2015) and Spiral (2016), where the graffiti-like lines seem to slip and slide into and away, referring to nothing and yet helping to form the whole canvas swept field.
War Two impressionist Kathe Kollwitz, Varvaressos wants to be effective with her art for as long as she can.4 She also hopes, for a long time,
Untitled [yellow] (2016) forces an experience through the artist’s resolution of tension with a mood of both active and static, stability and
to continue planting, digging and cutting in her abundant lower North Shore sprawling garden. Her passions intertwine.
movement, discord and harmony, constancy and change, and light and darkness. Silverland (2016), commanding elegance, has a similar
Varvaressos is a solitary artist (and gardener), never a member or a participant in any art movement. Nevertheless, she is deeply grateful for what other artists have ‘lent’ her while not becoming a disciple of any. As she matures and retires into her world of art and vegetation she maintains that she does not know what the ‘paint’ will do as she doodles, scratches, blobs and spreads it on to canvas. A painting transforms
painterly language and origin. It is, perhaps, a little more academic and with its rapid and continuous scratching evokes an inventive, if not audacious and exciting surface. Here are two canvases among many in an exhibition that is only a small selection from an abundant source of visual images. They all literally knock the breath out from those who are fortunate to view and inspect each canvas.
itself as she brushes it on. It emerges independently and mysteriously. She cannot force or direct it. As she explains, ‘it is all pretty mad, and
Varvaressos found her obsessive voice early and developed a language of her own, one that has served her well for many years. This 2017
like a dream. It’s where the paint takes you.’5
exhibition demonstrates the best of the best. Here she has established art that demonstrates a delicate and sublime balance between the
In this 2017 exhibition of sixteen paintings Varvaressos paints while metaphorically walking and looking in her garden. She does not paint floral beds or any elements of vegetation. Rather she evokes ambiguous shapes, smells and tones of the ethereal that floats through her eyes and mind and keeps her making art. After all, all that is made in the studio is a distillation of direct experience, usually specific and perceptive
linear, the scrawly and a painterly clever palette in a masterly fashion. I believe that these are impressive examples of an artist reaching an important and significant place in her art practice. As Apollinaire said over a century ago, ’One could give the following definition of art: creation of new illusions.’ 8
and formed of intellectual and visual encounters. She makes no drawings and plans little as she prepares to paint. The brush hits the canvas
Joseph Eisenberg OAM
and a painting, given time, evolves, always employing the artist’s own pictorial language and giving the viewer an insight into a radiant and
Emeritus Cultural Director
very bright personal world of colour. Criss-cross (2016) and Floating White (2016), for example, both create a continual and exhilarating
Maitland City Council
tension between the foreground and the washed back of the painting covering the canvases. The palette is rich, bright and even clashing,
20 April 2017
although it suggests less rather than more. Varvaressos walks in her garden, literally, but in her paintings the vision translates as a metaphorical visit and so Fuchsia (2015) looks anything but a floral bunch or a garden corner. However, as Varvaressos said in the past about another abstract painting, ‘…it sort of has these growth things and it is plant like.’ Once again, the creative effects of the paint itself take over and it is evident that the surface makes and invades 6
internal feelings and moods rather than offering figurative images. Schama and Twombly would be very proud, even given the two blue and brownie/mauve patches that, at first glance, are not as linear and scribbly as the rest of the surface but do have delicate changes in hue. A second look assures the viewer that lines and scrawls, even here, are essential.
1. J.P. O’Neill (ed), Barnett Newman: Selected writings and interviews, Knopf, New York,1990, p141. 2. K.C. Lindsay and P. Vergo (eds), Kandinsky: Complete writings on art, Da Capo Press, New York,1994, p757. 3. Simon Schama, Hang-ups: Essays on painting (mostly), BBC Books, London, 2004, p223 and Julie Sylvester (ed.), Cy Twombly, Fifty years of works on paper, Schirmer/Mosel, Munich, 2004, p11. 4. Martha Kearns, Kathe Kollwitz: woman and artist, Dover Publications, New York, 1976, p172. 5. Vicki Varvaressos interviewed by Joseph Eisenberg on 18 June and 3 August 2014 and (by telephone) 17 April 2017. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. L.C. Breunig (ed.), Apollinaire on art: essays and reviews 1902-1918, Viking Press, New York, 1972, p223.
3. Silverland 2016 acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 152.5cm
2. Deep Purple 2016 acrylic on canvas 121.5 x 91.5cm
4. Criss Cross 2016 acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 101.5cm
5. Pink 2016 acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 152cm
6. Unitled (yellow) 2016 acrylic on canvas 91 x 121.5cm
7. Fox - Trot 2015 acrylic on canvas 121.5 x 91.5cm
9. Spiral 2015 acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 122cm 8. Black on Pink 2016 acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 101.5cm
10. Fuchsia 2015 acrylic on canvas 91 x 122cm
11. Jazz 2016 acrylic on canvas 101.5 x 136cm
13. Cloudy Squares 2016 acrylic on canvas 101 x 152.5cm
12. Purple Shard 2015 acrylic on canvas 121.5 x 91cm
14. Floating White 2016 acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 121.5cm
15. Blue Quartet 2015 acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 122cm
VICKI VARVARESSOS Born 1949 in Sydney
Studied 1970-73
Studied National Art School, Sydney
1978
Travelled in Europe
Solo Exhibitions
16. Blue Tang 2015 acrylic on canvas 121.5 x 91cm
1975
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1976
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1977
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1978
Paintings and Drawings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1980
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Melbourne
1981
Paintings, Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Melbourne
1982
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1983
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1984
Linocuts and Drawings Watters Gallery, Sydney
1985
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1986
Paintings, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1987
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1988
Paintings, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1989
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1990
Paintings, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1991
Some myths from Mani and other paintings Watters Gallery, Sydney
1992
Selected Group Exhibitions 1975
Women in Art, W.A.I.T. Perth
Group drawing show, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1976
East Coast Drawing: Towards Some Definitions,
Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Abraxas Gallery, Canberra
1977
Watters at Pinacotheca, Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne
Georges Invitation Prize
Recent Women’s Images of Women, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1978
Australian Women Artists, C.A.S. Exhibition,
Paddington Town Hall, Sydney
Lost and Found, Ewing Gallery, University of Melbourne
1981
Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1982
Australian Painting & Sculpture 1956 1981:
Survey from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Five Contemporary Australian Painters, Tasmanian School of Art,
Hobart and Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Launceston
Gold Coast City Art Prize, Gold Coast, Queensland
Albury Purchase Award, Albury, New South Wales
Singleton Art Prize, Singleton, New South Wales
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1983
Recent Australian Works on Paper,
1993
Watters Gallery, Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1994
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Six by Six Exhibition, Orange Festival of Arts, Orange, New South Wales
1995
Watters Gallery, Sydney
Mattara Invitation Art Purchase, Newcastle Region Art Gallery
1996
Facescapes, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1997
Watters Gallery, Sydney
1998
Selected Paintings Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1999
Watters Gallery, Sydney
2001
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2002
Vicki Varvaressos – New Paintings, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2003
Groups, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2005
Dolls & Figures, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2006
Paintings, Heiser Gallery, Brisbane
2007
Recent Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2009
Vicki Varvaressos – recent paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2012
Works on Paper, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2014
Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney
2015
Vicki Varvaressos – the story so far,
Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2017
Vicki Varvaressos – New Work, Watters Gallery, Sydney
Attitudes to Drawing, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, City Art Institute, Sydney
The Woolloomooloo Mural Project, Sydney
Romanticism and Classicism in Contemporary Australian Painting, Geelong Art Gallery and touring regional galleries in Victoria
1984
Private Symbol: Social Metaphor, 5th Biennale of Sydney,
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The Hugh Williamson Memorial Invitation Art Award,
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria, Works on Paper Invitation
Purchase Exhibition, Campbelltown Art Gallery, New South Wales
1985
Recent Acquisitions of Australian Prints, Australian National Gallery,
Canberra
Still Life Studio, Education Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Pleasure of the Gaze, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Australian Perspecta ‘85, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1986
Painter as Printmaker, The Benalla & Shepparton Art Galleries, Victoria
The Source, Centre for the Arts Gallery, Hobart
1987
Young Australians, National Gallery of Victoria
1995
Women at Watters: 1964-1994, Watters Gallery, Sydney
McCaughey Invitation Prize, National Gallery of Victoria
Review: works by women from the collection,
Art in Architecture: Selections from the new parliament
Art Gallery of New South Wales
House Collection, Canberra Contemporary Art Gallery
1997
A Face in the Crowd, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Canberra
Sixth International Works on Paper Fair,
1988
Bicentennial Print Folio, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
State Library of New South Wales
Art and Nature: Artists’ Flowers, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria
1998
Symbiosis, Utopia Art Sydney; New England Regional Art Museum,
The Naked City: Stories of thelate ‘80s, Contemporary Art Centre
Armidale, New South Wales
of South Australia
1999
The Innovators, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
First Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building,
2000
Watters Gallery 15th Summer Exhibition, Watters Gallery, Sydney
Melbourne
Abstraction, Vicki Varvaressos and RonLambert, Watters Gallery,
Max Watters’ Collection, Muswellbrook Art Gallery, New South Wales
Sydney
1989
Prints and Australia: Pre Settlement other Present,
Melbourne Art Fair 2000, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
2001
Visions of Their World, Selection of works from La Trobe University Art
Portrait of a Gallery, Watters 25th anniversary exhibition, touring
Collection.
8 regional centres until 1991
Cutting Comments: Contemporary Linocuts 1995 – 1998,
Acquisitions 1988-89 Newcastle Region Art Gallery
Wagga Wagga Regional Art Museum and touring
1991
Her Story: Images of Domestic Labour in Australian Art,
Portraits 2001 – An Australian Odyssey,
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Tweed Heads River Regional Art Gallery
Faber-Castell Drawing Award Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
King of the Accordian, New England Regional Art Museums,
Dissonance: Aspects of Feminism and Art, The Tin Sheds Gallery,
Armidale, NSW
University of Sydney
2002
Australia – City, Land & Sea, University and Schools Club, Sydney
The Figure, Graham Gallery, Kembla Heights, New South Wales
Melbourne Art Fair 2002, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Girls & Boys, Gold Coast Arts Centre
Portia Geach Memorial Award Prize Winner, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
At least it’s Gone to a good home, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney
Contemporary Australian Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
1992
Some Painterly Work from Watters Gallery, Museum of Contemporary
2010
Slow Burn – a century of Australian Women artists from a private
Art, Brisbane (with Suzie Marston, Ron Lambert & Ruth Waller)
collection, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1993
Death, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
2011
Frank’s Flat Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW
1994
The Baillieu Myer Collection of the 80’s,
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria
The McCaughey Invitation Prize, National Gallery of Victoria
Warringah Art Prize Exhibition, Warringah, New South Wales
Collections National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Gallery of Western Australia Queensland Art Gallery Art Gallery of South Australia National Gallery, New Zealand University of Tasmania Allen Arthur Robinson Gold Coast City Art Gallery Shepparton Art Gallery Chartwell Collection, New Zealand University of New South Wales University of Queensland Heide Museum of Modern Art Geelong Art Gallery Artbank Warrnambool Art Gallery Wollongong Art Gallery New Parliament House, Canberra Woollahra City Council Baker & McKenzie IBM Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery Western Mining Joseph Brown Collection Newcastle Regional Art Gallery Orange Regional Gallery Moree Plains Gallery Maitland Regional Art Gallery
Exhibition catalogue Watters Gallery, Sydney 23 May – 10 June 2017. Photography: Michel Brouet This catalogue is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted by the Copyright Act no part may be reproduced by any other process without written permission.
Watters Gallery
109 Riley Street, East Sydney NSW 2010 Australia Tel:  61+ (02) 9331 2556
Email: Web: Hours:
info@wat tersgaller y.com www.wat tersgaller y.com tues and sat: 10am - 5pm wed, thurs, fri: 10am - 7pm