captain fantastic....

So... last week I posted some images of my Observatory hill walk and trip to the SH Ervin gallery to see the brilliant exhibition 'Drawn to Paint' by Nickolas Harding. At the time I said that I would talk about the exhibition later....
Well... the time has now come to briefly talk about this exhibition that truly and utterly inspired me. For me it was like going to the Easter show when I was six- in that I paid my entry, spent hours looking at every work + every documentary, and in the end I still didn't want to leave! But when I did I bought the t-shirt and book at the shop on the way out!
Well not the t-shirt but you get what I mean....


It was a great show! Last year I saw his solo exhibition at Rex Irwin Art Dealers in Queen st and that blew me away...but this had so so much more.

Drawn to paint is a 25 year survey of this 53 year old Sydney artist. With a distinguished career already to date, I knew that there were going to be many works that would blow me away... Nickolas has been a finalist for the Archibald Prize 14 times, winning in 2001 with his portrait of John Bell dressed as King Lear. He has also won the Dobell drawing Prize, and has been a finalist for many other awards...


When talking about his work Nickolas calls himself a 'melancholic optimist', in that he loves looking at the process of aging body with hope and wonder. His studies of the body, especially at the beach are truly beautiful, as he seems to get each figure just right! He says it has taken 20 years of incessant drawing and sketching to get to the level that he is now. I believe him!


Nickolas lives in the inner west and his works of that area of Sydney are amazing.... His colours, lines and forms are always spot on and he seems to have a real passion for the confusion and chaos of the area...
I loved this early work called Darling Harbour Tracks 1985 that was so colourful and raw...
He then progressed to works such as this massive painting below...

.... of central station's Central Hall painted in 2007.

There is so so much detail it blows your mind.

The level of skill and concentration is HUGE!

From entering the Archibald Prize 14 times, Nickolas has a large collection of portraits exhibited in the show... From Margaret Olley, the late Paddy Bedford and John Bell, they are intimate and beautiful works. The wall of sketches was one of my favourite areas of the exhibition.

This quick sketch of Rusty Peters from 2001 is a favourite....

Love all the beach sketches dotted around the space....

These watercolours were lovely.

Executed quickly and precisely you can see what a brilliant drawer he is....

This large waterhole painting is one of his more recent works.

This painting called Wooli River (two figures and a towel) 2009 was in his show at Rex Irwin last year so I was able to see it for a second time. And it did not disappoint on second viewing...

All these works are raw and luscious as the oil paint is so so thick it looks like it could fall off the canvas. Using a palette knife and a lot of paint, he slaps it on to each work with confidence and energy. If he doesn't like something, he peels it all off and starts again, working away until he has run out of time, and the work leaves the studio to be exhibited.

The figures always look so small and insignificant compared to the red cliffs and raw landscape in the back ground. I guess it's that thing about being Australian, in that the wide open landscape that surrounds us, IS what shapes us! We are like the props, on the lands wild and wondrous stage....

Anyway I hope this his given you a small idea of what the show is about?!

Drawn to paint is on at SH Ervin gallery until Mar 7

I hope you get a chance to take a peek...