JOURNEYS J OH N CALDWELL

Transcription

1 JOURNEYS J OH N CALDWELL

2

3 JOURNEYS J OH N CALDWELL On exhibition from 4 April - 24 May 2015 at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre

4 Cover Image: JOHN CALDWELL Ord Waters 2014, mixed media, 101 x 151 cm

5 INTRODUCTION John Caldwell invites his audience to traverse with him on an intrepid exploration of the Australian landscape as he vividly details his surroundings with water based colours, ink and charcoal. The exhibition traces Caldwell s many encounters with the distant, unknown environment in remote areas of the Blue Mountains, the Granite Country of NSW, the Ipswich coalfields, the Kimberley region, Lake Eyre and numerous other places. His infatuation with the natural world ensures Caldwell treks the path less travelled and in so doing records his impressions with sketches, which enables him to overwhelm his canvas with detail and impression. Caldwell s recollection of the various environments he inhabits for a time are obtained from memory and are not an absolute representation of the subject matter. Caldwell has the extraordinary ability to collect and distil the essence of the landscape he interprets in his works. We find ourselves immediately captured and transported to the very place - the rugged mountain cliffs, dense bush country and glare of the desert around Lake Eyre. We adjust our gaze, upon closer inspection of the canvas and seem to be within reach of the landscape in front of us. From Caldwell s extensive body of work, produced over the last 30 years, we have selected 55 works on paper, representing many of the locations Caldwell has painted and drawn. Upon reflecting on the exhibition one realises the vast areas of Australia that Caldwell has travelled. It is with absolute pleasure that the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre presents Journeys, in Caldwell s home - the Blue Mountains - the starting point for so many of his journeys. Sabrina Roesner Exhibitions Manager, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre

6 Biography Born in Sydney in 1942 and following schooling there, Caldwell spent ten years in the pastoral industry, primarily in the Channel Country of south western Queensland. He travelled overseas for three years, working in London and travelling in Ireland and Europe. Returning to Sydney in 1972 he studied for four years at the University of New South Wales, completing an honours degree in English Literature. Since 1977 he has worked full time as an artist, with more than forty solo exhibitions, and many joint and group exhibitions throughout Australia. The primary focus of his work is the natural landscape where there is little or no evidence of a human presence. From regular working trips throughout Australia and overseas, he gathers the reference material that results in his finished studio work. His overseas working trips include the UK and Europe in 1979; Bali, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Tahiti in the 1980s, France and Cornwall in 1994, China and London 2012, and the USA in His paintings, drawings and printmaking have also encompassed portraiture, figurative and still life subjects and he conducts a programme of painting and drawing workshops in his Blackheath studio. Selected Awards Wynne Competition, Trustees Watercolour Prize 1984, 1987 Tattersalls National Landscape Award 1997, 1999 Mosman Art Prize 1986 Wyong Festival of Arts Open Award 1996, 2000 Mahlab Law Week Art Prize 1987 Sunday Mail Outstanding Landscape Award 2000 Sydney Easter Show: seven first-place awards Crockett Art Prize, Katoomba 2007, 2008, 2009 Collections Photo: Steve Moline Australian National Gallery, Canberra Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Perth Regional Galleries S. H Ervin Gallery, Sydney; Bathurst Regional Gallery; Gosford Regional Gallery; Newcastle Regional Gallery; New England Regional Gallery; Moree Plains Regional Gallery; Mosman Gallery; Other UTS; Macquarie University; Charles Sturt Univesity; James Cook University; Wollongong University; Antarctic Division Hobart; Davis & Mawson; and Artbank

7 Artist Statement The artwork begins with the journeys. The journeys are the working trips to specific places or regions to experience and record the landscape. My involvement and interest in the landscape began in earlier years when I was employed in the pastoral industry, particularly the eight years spent in Queensland s Channel Country, where a knowledge of the land was critical to one s function and survival. This procedure that I now follow had its beginning in An invitation from the Australian Antarctic Division to visit Heard Island, and the Antarctic mainland, where working conditions were extremely limited, meant the finished work could only be produced later in the studio. The work selected for this exhibition comes from some of the working trips in Australia since then. On location my primary focus is to absorb the unique qualities of the place: its topography, geology and vegetation, as well as the personal feelings generated by that environment, rather than seeking particular painting compositions. The primary visual information in my sketchbooks is taken back to the studio for working the painted and drawn images. Photography supports this recorded information, particularly where various circumstances restrict any sketching. Sketching by its very nature, begins the selective process of detail and emphasis. The resolved studio images, are impressionistic interpretations that hopefully have a family resemblance to the region, rather than portraits of particular places. From the sample sketchbooks in the exhibition, these beginnings can be seen. I usually work in ink, and this minimal equipment allows me to explore the countryside more freely, covering more territory in the day. During the trips represented in this show I have travelled with my wife Jan, a fellow artist and camping enthusiast. Typically we tent camp in the national parks, exploring on day trips from a base camp. The parks have often been established in areas of little commercial value, rough wilderness country, just the sort of landscape that appeals to me. The map of Australia shows the destinations of the journeys represented in this show, and in many cases these numbered locations have been visited frequently. For the landscape painter the journey to and from the destination is also rich with subject matter. This exhibition can also be seen as the journey of the development of imagery from the ideas on-site, through sketching and studio resolution, to a place in a gallery. Given the time span of the work, perhaps it also represents a journey through the evolution of my work, and my passion for the natural landscape of Australia. John Caldwell Blackheath, April 2015

8 1) Blue Mountains, NSW 2) Central West, NSW 3) Channel Country, QLD 4) Granite Country, NSW 5) Ipswich Coalfields, QLD 6) Lake Eyre, SA 7) Kimberley, WA 8) Coastal Fringe, NSW 9) Riverina, NSW 10) South Australian Coast 11) Tasmania

9 Location 1 Paintings Drawings Location 2 Paintings Location 3 Paintings Location 4 Paintings Drawings Blue Mountains, NSW Cleft Falls High on the Ridge Horizon Mist Mountain Cascade North Hartley Timber Ravine in Shadow Spring Torrent From Pulpit Rock Central West, NSW Abercrombie She Oaks Dunns Swamp Nightfall Fence Line, Sallys Flat Forest and Foothills Hillside Catchment Homestead in the Foothills Irishtown Timber Oberon Autumn Roadside Devils Pinch Sodwalls Timber Tarana Dusk West of Tarana Channel Country, QLD Beyond the Bulloo Gumbla Paddock In the McGregor Range Mulga Waterhole Granite Country, NSW Above Carrolls Creek Across the Creek Flat Granite Hills Higher Reaches River Bend Reflections Tableland Tops Tor Upper Namoi Location 5 Paintings Location 6 Paintings Location 7 Paintings Location 8 Paintings Drawings Location 9 Paintings Drawings Location 10 Paintings Location 11 Paintings Ipswich Coal Fields, QLD Bench and Backfill Strata and Backfilling Lake Eyre, SA Aerial Series - Channel Web Aerial Series - Sandy Creek Kimberley, WA Kimberley Scrub Ord Waters Coastal Fringe, NSW Bellbirds 1 Bellbirds 2 Bellbirds 3 Bellbirds 4 Bellbirds 5 Bellbirds 6 Bellbirds 7 Shoreline Rocks Harbour Elements Wiseman s Cliffs Riverina, NSW Gunbower Island Murrumbidgee River Bend Riverina Horizon Barmah Lake On the Yurong Trail South Australia Coast Towards Encounter Bay Tasmania Bruny Revisited

10 Blue Mountains, NSW Cleft Falls 2009, mixed media, 75 x 56 cm

11 Blue Mountains, NSW High on the Ridge 2009, mixed media, 7 x 11 cm

12 Blue Mountains, NSW Horizon Mist 2009, mixed media, 45 x 64 cm

13 Blue Mountains, NSW Mountain Cascade 2012, mixed media, 36 x 26 cm

14 Blue Mountains, NSW North Hartley Timber 2012, mixed media, 36 x 27 cm

15 Blue Mountains, NSW Ravine in Shadow 1990, mixed media, 75 x 96 cm

16 Blue Mountains, NSW Spring Torrent 2013, mixed media, 36 x 26 cm

17 Blue Mountains, NSW From Pulpit Rock 1998, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

18 Central West, NSW Abercrombie She Oaks 2009, mixed media, 55 x 74 cm

19 Central West, NSW Dunns Swamp Nightfall 2014, mixed media, 8 x 11 cm

20 Central West, NSW Fence Line, Sallys Flat 2007, mixed media, 55 x 74 cm

21 Central West, NSW Forest and Foothills 1996, mixed media, 77 x 111 cm

22 Central West, NSW Hillside Catchment 2014, mixed media, 150 x 100 cm

23 Central West, NSW Homestead in the Foothills 2008, mixed media, 51 x 33 cm

24 Central West, NSW Irish Town Timber 2008, mixed media, 55 x 75 cm

25 Central West, NSW Oberon Autumn 2005, mixed media, 55 x 74 cm

26 Central West, NSW Roadside Devils Pinch 2007, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

27 Central West, NSW Sodwalls Timber 2014, mixed media, 10 x 8 cm

28 Central West, NSW Tarana Dusk 2014, mixed media, 7 x 11 cm

29 Central West, NSW West of Tarana 2014, mixed media, 7 x 13 cm

30 Channel Country, QLD Beyond the Bulloo 2005, mixed media, 27 x 52 cm

31 Channel Country, QLD Gumbla Paddock 2014, mixed media, 7 x 11 cm

32 Channel Country, QLD In the McGregor Range, 1999 mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

33 Channel Country, QLD Mulga Waterhole 1999, mixed media, 95 x 145 cm

34 Granite Country, NSW Above Carrols Creek 1997, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

35 Granite Country, NSW Across the Creek Flat 2004, mixed media, 102 x 152 cm

36 Granite Country, NSW Granite Hills 1992, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

37 Granite Country, NSW Higher Reaches 2014, mixed media, 74 x 50 cm

38 Granite Country, NSW Riverbend Reflections 1997, mixed media, 109 x 75 cm

39 Granite Country, NSW Tableland Tops 1998, mixed media, 75 x 110 cm

40 Granite Country, NSW Tor 1997, compressed charcoal on paper, 150 x 100 cm

41 Granite Country, NSW Upper Namoi 1997, compressed charcoal on paper, 100 x 150cm

42 Ipswich Coalfields, QLD Bench and Backfill 1991, mixed media, 100 x 151 cm

43 Ipswich Coalfields, QLD Strata and Backfilling 1991, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

44 Lake Eyre, SA Aerial Series - Channel Web 1990, mixed media, 76 x 102 cm

45 Lake Eyre, SA Aerial Series - Sandy Creek 1990, mixed media, 75 x 102

46 Kimberley, WA Kimberley Scrub 2013, mixed media, 13 x 10cm

47 Kimberley, WA Ord Waters 2014, mixed media, 101 x 151cm

48 Coastal Fringe, NSW Bellbirds by Henry Kendall By channels of coolness the echoes are calling, And down the dim gorges I hear the creek falling: It lives in the mountain where moss and the sedges Touch with their beauty the banks and the ledges. Through breaks of the cedar and sycamore bowers Struggles the light that is love to the flowers; And, softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing, The notes of the bell-birds are running and ringing. The silver-voiced bell birds, the darlings of daytime! They sing in September their songs of the May-time; When shadows wax strong, and the thunder bolts hurtle, They hide with their fear in the leaves of the myrtle; When rain and the sunbeams shine mingled together, They start up like fairies that follow fair weather; And straightway the hues of their feathers unfolden Are the green and the purple, the blue and the golden. October, the maiden of bright yellow tresses, Loiters for love in these cool wildernesses; Loiters, knee-deep, in the grasses, to listen, Where dripping rocks gleam and the leafy pools glisten: Then is the time when the water-moons splendid Break with their gold, and are scattered or blended Over the creeks, till the woodlands have warning Of songs of the bell-bird and wings of the Morning. Welcome as waters unkissed by the summers Are the voices of bell-birds to the thirsty far-comers. When fiery December sets foot in the forest, And the need of the wayfarer presses the sorest, Pent in the ridges for ever and ever The bell-birds direct him to spring and to river, With ring and with ripple, like runnels whose torrents Are toned by the pebbles and the leaves in the currents. Bell Birds , mixed media, various dimensions Often I sit, looking back to a childhood, Mixt with the sights and the sounds of the wildwood, Longing for power and the sweetness to fashion, Lyrics with beats like the heart-beats of Passion; - Songs interwoven of lights and of laughters.

49 Coastal Fringe, NSW Shoreline Rocks 2002, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

50 Coastal Fringe, NSW Harbour Elements 2002, compressed charcoal and oil stick on paper, 100 x 150 cm

51 Coastal Fringe, NSW Wiseman s Cliff 2002, compressed charcoal and oil stick on paper, 150 x 100 cm

52 Riverina, NSW Gunbower Island 2005, mixed media, 55 x 74 cm

53 Riverina, NSW Murrumbidgee River Bend 2000, mixed media, 150 x 100 cm

54 Riverina, NSW Barmah Lake 1995, ink pen on paper, 150 x 100 cm

55 Riverina, NSW On the Yurong Trail 1995, compressed charcoal on paper 150 x 100 cm

56 South Australian Coast Towards Encounter Bay 2011, mixed media, 100 x 150 cm

57 TASMANIA Bruny Revisited 2000, mixed media, 150 x 100 cm

58 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks to Paul Brinkman and his staff at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre for this opportunity to exhibit such a range of my work. I am also indebted to Sabrina Roesner for her professionalism in curating this exhibition and the catalogue production. My wife Jan, has played a part in every aspect of this project and I am forever grateful for her ongoing support. My thanks also to Hendrik Kolenberg for agreeing to open the show and for his friendship and encouragement over many years. John Caldwell, April 2015 Bell-birds was published by Henry Kendall in The illustrated edition was first published by Angus & Robertson Publishers in reprinted in 1982, 1983, 1984 and Illustrations: John Caldwell Exhibition Development & Production: Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Public Program: Naomi Baker Marketing: Rose Stibbard Catalogue Production & Design: Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Artwork Photography: Graeme Wienand Print Production: Contact & Clarendon This exhibition has been made possible through the Exhibition Program of the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre and the support of the Blue Mountains City Council. Back Image: Riverina Horizon, mixed media, 7 x 14 cm

59 Blue Mountains Cultural Centre & Waragil Studios 2015 Blue Mountains Cultural Centre 30 Parke Street KATOOMBA NSW 2780 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system), without permission from the publisher. Publisher: Blue Mountains Cultural Centre & Waragil Studios ISBN BLUE MOUNTAINS CULTURAL CENTRE I 30 Parke St Katoomba NSW 2780 Open 10am 5pm Mon Fri, 10am 4pm Sat & Sun 10am 2pm public holidays (closed Good Friday & Xmas Day)

60 JOURNEYS JOHN CALDWELL A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Exhibition