Exhibition February 2007
Copyright © 2004 Pollock Gallery
Andrew Sibley
“New & Recent Paintings”
A selection of the paintings
follows:
Click on an image for
a larger view… for any information call or e-mail
us
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Rosie Waiting Oil on Linen 100 x 85 cm |
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Rosie in Love Oil on linen 100 x 85 cm |
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First Meeting Oil on linen 51 x 40 cm |
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He Leadeth Me Oil on linen 51 x 40 cm |
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Distractions Oil on linen 122 x 132 cm |
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Mrs In Between Oil on linen 122 x 132 cm |
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The Medieval Art of Love Oil on linen 122 x 132 cm |
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Come into the Garden Oil on linen 100 x 91 cm |
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Who Needs Classicism? Oil on Linen 132 x 120 cm |
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A Window to the Artist’s Retreat Oil on linen 92 x 100 cm |
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Believe Me I’m Earthed Oil on linen 67 x 61 cm |
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Tree Portrait 1 - Ginko Oil on linen 100 x 85 cm |
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Tree Portrait 2 - Conifer Oil on linen 100 x 85 cm |
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Tree Portrait 3 Oil on linen 100 x 85 cm |
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Tree Portrait 4 - Poplar Oil on linen 100 x 85 cm |
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Primal Carpet Oil on linen 92 x 100 cm |
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Earthed Lovers Oil on linen 178 x 107 cm |
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First Dance Oil on linen 132 x 122 cm |
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Awkward Andrew Oil on linen 122 x 132 cm |
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Lustscape Oil on linen 132 x 122 cm |
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Light of the Outback Oil on linen 178 x 107 cm |
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I’ll Bring You a Daisy A Day Oil on linen 100 x 91 cm |
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Red Meets Blue Ink on Paper 44 x 30 cm |
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Midnight Love Ink on Paper 44 x 30 cm |
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He Really Loves Me Ink on Paper 44 x 30 cm |
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Andrew Sibley.
A Review by Kate Adams. February 2007.
One need not refer to his illustrious
biography to comprehend the creative calibre and competence of Andrew Sibley.
Rather, the energy and confidence of his most recent paintings reflect an
artist who has, over the course of his career, refined his art to only the most
articulate, potent compositions necessary to communicate his ongoing concern
with the human condition.
Sibley’s slick application
and bold separation of colour, combined with his precise and economic use of
line, culminate in uncompromising images of contemporary life. He paints with
courageous simplicity. A disturbing eeriness emanates with the precision of his
final compositions. Figures collapse and become trapped in a world of
two-dimensional visual ‘perfection’.
However,
if one mistakes Sibley’s simplification of images as decorative or shallow,
they must be quick to correct themselves by revisiting Sibley’s subjects and
carefully analyzing the disjunctions in their apparently cliché gestures.
Lovers’ gazing at each other with eyes that never quite meet; bodies that slide
over each other rather than embrace; Sibley uses these subtle inconsistencies
to communicate the ambiguities of human relationships and behaviour, to expose
the disturbing reality of anything that operates as a surface appearance.
At
closer observation, we realise that the true reality of Sibley’s scenes
are in-fact playfully contradictory with our initial interpretation of them. A fine example of this is ‘He Leadeth Me’. As
the title suggests, this picture presents a situation of a man leading a woman
into a bedroom. However, upon analyzing her ambiguous gaze and mischievous
smile, we begin to doubt our initial assumptions. At a closer glance, is it not
the woman who has devised this plan, knowing all-too-well (perhaps from
experience?) the tempting rewards that follow a night of flirtation? Like many
of his works, Sibley invites viewers to examine the actions and uncover the
motivation behind human behaviour, encouraging us to take an active role in
interpreting his art.
Sibley’s ongoing theme of
the disparity between surface appearance and deeper meaning continues to
penetrate his recent works. We must approach Sibley’s outwardly clichéd
symbolism and sentimentality with a retained scepticism, for, more often than
not, these features are clever façades disguising hidden truths. As we
penetrate beneath the brilliant colours, apathetic stares and vague gestures,
we begin to notice a tension between psychological and physical space. Sibley’s
characters seem to stare beyond their immediate surroundings and out of the
canvas, expressing an awareness of a world beyond the physical. In this way,
Sibley introduces a psychological depth to an otherwise ‘flat’ image.
Sibley’s human subjects
often appear to emerge on their own account, arising from shapes and features of
the landscape. It is Sibley’s role to pluck them from the background and into
existence. We see this in ‘Rosie In Love’, whereby the two figures are
comprised from the rose-patterned backdrop, before their forms are articulated
and solidified by Sibley’s iconic linear contours. This technique allows his
subjects to appear simultaneously imbedded and disconnected from their
environment.
However,
in one of the most remarkable images of this show, ‘Rosie Waiting’, Sibley
uncharacteristically abandons his use of line. Instead, he allows texture and
colour to give rise to his subject, resulting in a refreshingly delicate image
of innocent longing.
Sibley’s highly individual,
unorthodox aesthetic is not reserved for his human subjects alone. In his Tree
Portrait series, Sibley offers a unique vision of the Australian landscape.
Privileging almost every shade of green imaginable, these trees thrive with
fertility. Luminous lime green and deep olive hues reverberate side-by-side on
the canvas, the contrast of light and dark producing a pulsating glow. Each
tree takes on a charmingly unique personality. ‘Australian’ in an exceptionally
surreal way, Sibley’s Tree Portraits accomplish the most important task
of portraiture: to depict the spirit of the subject, not physical
likeness.
In continuation with his
past works, a powerful juxtaposition between visual immobility and liberation,
between psychological isolation and social interaction, lies at the heart of
the majority of Sibley’s latest works. However his recent investigations,
although still darkly humourous, are notably less intense than those works
produced prior to 2000. Of past works, it could be said that Sibley engendered
a strong satirical criticism of, what in Jungian terms could be described as,
“A civilized consciousness [that had] steadily separated itself from the basic
instincts [and was] forced to assert [it]self in an indirect fashion”.[i]
Presently, Sibley’s satire takes on a less bitter form. The ‘unfinished
business’ explored in his earlier autobiographical works seems to have been
resolved, clearing room for Sibley and his painted “family” (as Ronald Millar
referred to them) to rejoice in the world and all it’s imperfections. And
whilst his re-occurring characters retain certain childish or animalistic
qualities, they also demonstrate a composed maturity. No longer caught up in
the emotional chaos of their situation, they exhibit a cool indifference to
their environment, a somewhat existential (particularly Heidiggerian)
acceptance of their place in their world. Sibley once explained that “the true
escape is to learn to live within the environment we find ourselves in, by
coming to an understanding with our own nature and the nature and conditions of
all humanity”.[ii] The figures
in ‘Who Needs Classicism?’ exemplify this realization. Content with
their flaws and differences, these characters suggest that idealism is an
undesirable, obsolete aspiration in today’s world.
Alan McCulloch’s observation of “the sheer youthful
exuberance of Sibley’s work”[iii]
still holds true today. Operating between the realms of theatricality and
reality, Sibley’s latest works are infused with a redeemed optimism, but do not
abandon their task of questioning the complex disposition of the human
condition.
Beauty and awkwardness, complacency and anxiety and all other contradictions of human nature are arrested in these satisfyingly fluent images of contemporary life.
[1]
Carl G. Jung, Man and His Symbols, Aldus/Allen, London 1964, p.
83
[1] Andrew Sibley quoted in Andrew Sibley:
An Epic of the Everyman, David Thomas and Ken McGregor, 2004, p. 31
[1] Alan McCulloch, ‘Brilliance can be
tricky’, Herald, Melbourne, 11 April 1962