Education Resource
Introduction to the exhibition:
Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO
01
Robert Owen
Untitled XII from the series Origami (1992)
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
121.5 x 121.5cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
The Gift
Gallery A
Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO is an exhibition
of artworks from the collection of Ann Lewis. The
exhibition was made possible by Ann Lewis’ generous
gift of her collection to three galleries in 2009.
Sixty works were given to the MCA, others went
to the Newcastle Region Art Gallery and many of
the works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
artists were gifted to the Moree Plains Gallery.
Situated in Paddington, Gallery A showed the work
of some of the first artists to explore abstraction in
Australia, including the painters Janet Dawson and Ralph
Balson, the kinetic light artist Frank Hinder and sculptors
Robert Klippel, Clement Meadmore and Colin Lanceley.
Ann Lewis
Ann Lewis is a noted gallerist, collector and patron of the
arts. From 1964-1983 she was manager and then director
of one of the earliest contemporary art galleries in Sydney,
Gallery A. She was appointed to the Australia Council for
the Visual Arts Board from 1973-76 and chaired the Board
from 1980-83. She has been on the International Council of
the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York since 1972.
The collection
An art collection is shaped by a number of factors. It is the
result of personal taste, curiosity, emotion and individual
experience. Ann Lewis’ collection is the result all of these,
but it is also testament to her ongoing friendship with
many of the artists whose work she exhibited in Gallery A.
What Ann has given to the public is a striking selection
of contemporary artworks that ranges across painting
and sculpture to photography and installation. It includes
works by key artists from six decades of Australian art.
The late curator Nick Waterlow said of Gallery A that
it was there that he first saw art that was interested
in ‘exploration, iconoclasm and confrontation’1, a type
of art previously seen only in London and Paris. Gallery
A launched the career of the remarkable midlife artist
Rosalie Gascoigne, and also helped to establish the case
for Aboriginal art as contemporary art, with the landmark
exhibition Master Works of the Western Desert, in 1982.
Gallery A came up against the conservatism of 1960s
society when, in 1965, the exhibition of the visionary
artist Mike Brown, Paintin’ a-go-go, was censored by
the vice squad. The painting Mary Lou as Miss Universe
(1964) was deemed to be obscene. The artist was initially
sentenced in court to three months hard labour, but this
sentence was later reduced on appeal to a small fine.2
1
2
‘Remembering Gallery A Sydney’ in Gallery A Sydney:
1964-1983, Campbelltown Art Centre, 2009
ibid. See also http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/paint-itback/2006/07/13/1152637806713.html?page=fullpage - contentSwap2
Styles and movements
Abstraction
Australian Aboriginal & Torres
Strait Islander Art
See Ralph Balson, Richard Dunn, John Firth-Smith,
Sally Gabori, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Ildiko Kovacs,
Rosella Namok, Robert Owen and Gloria Petyarre.
In early 19th century European painting, realism and
representation were characteristics that were prized
above all. A gradual move toward abstraction developed
around the turn of the 19th Century. Following in the
footsteps of the Impressionists, Monet and Cezanne,
and the Cubists, Picasso and Braque, a number of
artists experimented with line, shape, colour, volume
and space. They also explored the materiality of paint.
Different movements in abstract painting have
appeared in the 20th Century. These include abstract
expressionism, colour field painting, minimalism, op (or
optical) art and geometric abstraction. In Almanac,
Ralph Balson’s Constructive No. 24 (1953) is an example
of geometric abstraction. Balson was one of the
earliest painters to practise abstraction in Australia.
Ralph Balson was working at the same time as
prominent Australian figurative and landscape painters
such as Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan. These artists
concentrated on painting Australian landscape, myths
and legends. Conversely, the Sydney-based artists
looked to European modernism for direction, and
were sometimes called the ‘Internationalists’.
Ann Lewis collected a number of abstract works from the
1970s and 1980s, including paintings by John Firth-Smith
and Richard Dunn, and works by the celebrated Aboriginal
artist, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. The collection also features
abstract expressionist paintings by Ildiko Kovacs and a
vibrant 2008 work by Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally
Gabori, an Aboriginal painter from the Gulf of Carpentaria.
02
See Curley Barduguba, Robert Ambrose Cole,
Timothy Cook, Mirdidingkingathi Juwardna Sally
Gabori, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Kitty Kantilla
Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu, Marrirra Marawili,
George Milwulurrurr, Rosella Namok, Dorothy
Napangardi, Jimmy Ngalakurn, Bobby Nganjmirra,
Gloria Petyarre, Lola Ryan, Walala Tjapaltjarri,
Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Wukun Gathinikpa
Wanambi, Judy Watson and Timothy Wulanjbirr.
Contemporary Aboriginal art is varied in style and
approach, depending on the region and community it
comes from. There are several general groupings of
Australian Aboriginal art. These include urban Aboriginal
art, produced by city-based artists, and art from
the following regions: the Western Desert in Central
Australia, the Kimberley, Arnhem Land, Cape York
Peninsula, the Tiwi Islands and North Queensland.
Each of the regions is known for its distinctive artistic
style. For example, in Arnhem Land, artworks are
often painted on bark sheets and hollow logs. They
characteristically display intricate designs incorporating
single-line hatching and/or cross-hatching. Examples of
this in Almanac include the works by Curley Barduguba and
Jimmy Ngalakurn from Maningrida in Central Arnhem Land
and George Milwulurrurr from Ramingining in East Central
Arnhem Land. These paintings can be seen as expressions
of country and culture. They are created within ceremonial
and contemporary art practice. Such works may depict
spirit figures, landforms and local flora and fauna.
Western desert art involves a combination of
traditional motifs and contemporary materials, such
as the use of canvas and acrylic paints. Turkey Tolson
Tjupurrula’s Untitled (spear straightening) (1990)
is an early example of an iconic series he produced
depicting this theme. Traditionally, spears would be held
over the campfire to straighten them. In the painting
the spears are represented by the white lines.
The exhibition includes an etching by Kitty Kantilla
Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu, Untitled #1 (2000-1). A
Tiwi artist from Melville Island, she experimented with
different types of printmaking before arriving at a fine
linear approach on white paper, rather than the black
paper preferred by other Tiwi artists. Tiwi art differs
from other styles of Aboriginal art in that it does not tell
stories nor depict country. Instead, her work contains
motifs from traditional Pukumani and Kuluma ceremonies.3
3
ttp://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngv-media Follow the links to 2007 NGV Media
h
Release on Kitty Kantilla Exhibition back/2006/07/13/1152637806713.
html?page=fullpage - contentSwap2
Styles and movements
02
Emily Kame Kngwarreye Untitled (1991)
synthetic polymer paint on linen
121 x 213cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Image courtesy and © Emily Kame
Kngwarreye. Licensed by Viscopy, 2011
Found objects and assemblage
See Hany Armanious, Ian Burns, Mikala
Dwyer, Rosalie Gascoigne, Robert Klippel,
Robert Rauschenberg and Neil Roberts.
The term ‘found object’ refers to the way artists
utilise objects from the everyday world in their
artwork. These may consist of objects from the
natural world, such as dried grasses or shells, or
manufactured items such as tools, beads or tickets.
Sometimes the found object comprises the whole
artwork, in which case it is termed a readymade.
The French artist Marcel Duchamp’s upended
Bicycle Wheel (1913) and Fountain (1917) a urinal
- are famous examples of readymades.
An artwork is called an assemblage when found objects
are combined to form a three dimensional artwork.
The materials used may not have been originally
intended for artistic use. The term was coined in the
1950s by the French artist Jean Dubuffet. Rosalie
Gascoigne’s Winter Morning (1976) and Ian Burns’
Showtime (2008) are examples of assemblages.
Assemblage as an art form gained greater prominence
from 1961, when an exhibition entitled The Art of
Assemblage was mounted at the Museum of Modern
Art (MOMA) in New York. It celebrated the work of
the great Modernists Picasso and Braque as well
as Dubuffet and a number of American artists.
Photography
See Rosemary Laing, Jon Lewis and Anne Zahalka.
Photography is an art form that is concerned with
the registration of light in the creation of an image.
Photography only began to gain acceptance as an art
form in the early years of the 20th Century. An early
movement in art photography was Pictorialism, which
was associated with the Camera Club of New York and
Group f/64 in San Francisco. Australian photographers
who were highly influential from the mid 20th Century
onwards included Max Dupain and David Moore.
Photography today runs the gamut from documentation
of the social and natural worlds around us, to storytelling
and explorations of the medium. Some artists today
continue to work with cameras and film, whilst others
work with digital cameras and computer technologies.
In Almanac, the photographic prints by Rosemary Laing
and Anne Zahalka can be categorized as conceptual
photography. These images have been carefully staged,
and they pose questions about the relationship between
reality and fantasy as well as reality and art. Jon Lewis’
work on the other hand falls more into the realm of
documentary photography, capturing the essence of
a time and place. Lewis is particularly interested in
representing identity, and works in this exhibition feature
photographs of International and Australian subjects.
03
Hany Armanious
Hany Armanious is a sculptor who has been chosen to
represent Australia at the 2011 Venice Biennale. In a
playful artistic practice, he works with various found
objects, and the casting of found objects to explore
ideas of resemblance and change. The title Untitled
Snake Oil (1998) is a reference to the questionable cureall potions hawked by travelling salesmen in the 19th
Century. The artist’s work expresses an interest in the
concept of alchemy, which refers to the way people in
pre-industrial societies tried to alter the properties
of metals in a vain attempt to manufacture gold.
This work foregrounds the negative space of
the differently shaped glasses by exploring the
relationship between the sculpture and the mould,
something that is usually discarded in the casting
process. The glass plinth is given more status than
is the case within traditional sculptural practice.
The vitrined sculptures play on the idea that
these everyday objects and materials have been
transmuted into something precious: art.
In this work, Armanious has used household glasses as
the moulds in which to cast brightly coloured hot melt, or
synthetic polymer resin. The resulting shapes have then
been placed onto the upturned glasses, the glasses acting
as the plinth for each object. When placed together in
this way a new shape is created in which the translucent
base and solid top echo each other. Something ordinary
has been made unfamiliar and magical to our eye.
Hany Armanious
Untitled Snake Oil (1998)
synthetic polymer resin (‘hotmelt’), bound
pigment, glass Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
What can you see in Untitled Snake Oil (1998)? What
colours has the artist used in this work? What
shapes are these? What do they remind you of?
Hany Armanious has transformed ordinary glasses into
plinths by turning them upside down and placing his
artworks on top. What objects from home or school
could you use to create your own unique plinth? Think
about how you might change the object to alter its
purpose or use. Make a sculpture to place on top of your
plinth. Remember: plinth + artwork = a new shape!
3-6
Hany Armanious likes to make art that changes the way
we think about everyday objects. How has he used the
glasses in this work? What does the work remind you of?
Secondary
7-9
How has the artist changed the function of the
glasses in Untitled Snake Oil (1998)? What is the
relationship between the plinth (the glass) and
the coloured cast sculpture in this work?
10-12
tructural frame: How does Hany Armanious explore
S
the idea of negative space and the medium of casting
in this work? Is this sculpture or installation?
Cultural frame: Discuss how this work plays on the
notions of alchemy, folk medicine and transformation.
Search your kitchen and bathroom for everyday objects
that contain volume (i.e., can hold liquids). You might look
for cups, bowls, vases or containers in different shapes
and sizes. Place your collection of objects in front of
you and imagine what their inside shape might look
like. (In other words, if you filled the object with water,
what shape would the water take?) Draw this shape
on a piece of paper first, then re-create the shape in
3D using play-dough or clay. Does your sculpture look
very different to the object that you started with?
Secondary
Hany Armanious’ work makes reference to the dubious
reputation of snake oil in its title, alluding to concepts of
alchemy, experimental chemistry and the falsified promotion
of unproven qualities in man-made medicinal products.
Research the history of snake oil and alchemy, pick out
some key aspects or concepts that interest you and explore
these concepts through your own art making. You may like
to explore the practice of assemblage with found objects.
04
Rosalie Gascoigne
Rosalie Gascoigne began her artistic career while in her
fifties, after raising her family. She drew inspiration from
the landscape around Canberra, and was particularly
interested in the materials and textures of rural life.
She was an avid collector, and her aesthetic grew from
the pieces she acquired. Assemblage and installation
art feature prominently in her extensive body of work.
Rosalie Gascoigne
Leaning piece (1974)
painted wood, rope binding
32 x 80 x 5cm (irreg.) Museum of
Contemporary Art, donated through
the Australian Government’s Cultural
Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Her first exhibition was in a group show at Sydney’s
Gallery A in 1974, and her work was exhibited at the
same gallery the following year. Her development
as an artist was gradual. Initially trained in Ikebana,
she began to incorporate the detritus of rural
life into her work, including scrap metal and wood,
discarded belongings and fragments of the
natural environment, such as dried grasses.
Rosalie Gascoigne
Winter morning (1976)
painted wood, printed cardboard
assemblage 20 x 48 x 17.5cm Museum
of Contemporary Art, donated through
the Australian Government’s Cultural
Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
The Almanac works, Leaning piece (1974) and Winter morning
(1976), are early assemblages that were both shown at
Gallery A. They were radical in their modest, stripped
down aesthetic, barely held together in any permanent
way. These pieces brought the weathered materials
of country life into the gallery context, emphasising
the rural principles of recycling and making-do.
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
Look at the different shapes in Winter Morning
(1976). What can you see? Do you think that the artist
has found these things or made them? Why?
Rosalie Gascoigne’s Winter morning (1976) is made of
small three-dimensional objects arranged on a ‘stage’ in
front of a painted background, very similar to a diorama.
Collect together a series of small objects which you think
tell a story about the place where you live, such as shells,
feathers or leaves. Create a stage and background using
any items you find in or around your home or school and
arrange your objects for display. Try assembling your
objects in different ways to see which arrangement
works best. You could document your assemblage
by a taking a photo of the finished arrangement.
3-6 What type of materials does Rosalie Gascoigne
use to make art? Where does she find them? Are they
special? How are they arranged or put together?
Secondary
7-9 What is the appeal of these two works by
Rosalie Gascoigne? Explore the ways in which she
recycles objects and materials. What relationship
does her art have to the Australian landscape?
10-12
Structural frame: What elements of Gascoigne’s work
were different and groundbreaking? Why was it a radical
move to have an artwork leaning against the wall?
Structural frame: Could Winter morning (1976) and
Leaning piece (1976) be classified as a landscape work?
Argue a case for and against this statement.
Conceptual framework: What connection
does Rosalie Gascoigne’s art have to the
environment and environmental concerns?
Secondary
A groundbreaking artist for her time, Rosalie Gascoigne
engaged audiences with works such as Leaning piece (1974),
not only with her choice of media, but also through her
methods of display. Take time to explore your surrounding
environment and collect a series of natural and found
objects that you feel embody the character or temperament
of your landscape. You might like to refine these in some
way, by polishing them, cutting, carving or re-shaping. Then
combine them into a formal aesthetic assemblage. Think
of different ways in which you could display your objects
to challenge the conventional boundaries of art practice.
05
Robert Klippel
Robert Klippel was an internationally celebrated
Australian sculptor. Born in 1920 in Sydney, he studied
sculpture at East Sydney Technical College and, after
the war, at the Slade School of Art in London.
Robert Klippel
Metal sculpture No. 182 (1962)
brazed steel construction, found objects
70.5 x 68 x 37cm Ann Lewis AO Gift 2010,
Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection
A keen model maker in his youth, he developed a sculptural
aesthetic not dissimilar to model making. Utilising
found objects, he created sculptures that from the
1950s onward were primarily abstract in nature. He
called these ‘junk sculptures’, and rather than name
them, he distinguished them by giving each a number.
Robert Klippel
No. 345 (1977)
brazed steel construction, found objects
31 x 20 x 5cm Ann Lewis AO Gift
The sculptures in Ann Lewis’ collection show the variation
in style Klippel was able to achieve using the same principle
of welding found objects together. Each artwork displays
an airy linear quality, but there are differences in emphasis.
Metal sculpture No. 182 (1962) is a more chaotic structure
in comparison with the others. Resting on a small
rectangular base, it grows like some mad machine whose
cogs and wheels seem to be in motion. No. 345 (1977)
is a beautiful structure that balances organic leaf-like
shapes with a wonderful angular outline. And the chunkier
No. 299 (1973) uses machine parts to create a playful
geometric sculpture, not unlike a children’s playground.
Robert Klippel
No. 299 (1973)
brazed steel construction, geometric sections
22 x 24 x 23cm Ann Lewis AO Gift 2010,
Newcastle Region Art Gallery collection
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
Look closely at the artwork Metal Sculpture No.
182 (1962). What is it? What does it remind you of?
What about No. 345 (1977) and No. 299 (1973)?
Robert Klippel made his sculptures out of junk and
scrap metal that he found at his place of work. Create
a sculpture made out of the junk and scrap pieces that
you can find easily around your home. You could attach
them together with string, sticky tape or glue. What
crazy shapes can you create by joining objects together?
Think about the support structure for your sculpture.
Will it stand upright or will it hang like a mobile?
3-6
Robert Klippel’s sculptures look like mad machines.
Look closely at each art work; could they operate
mechanically in any way? Choose an art work and write
a story about how the sculpture machine moves.
Secondary
7-9
Compare Metal Sculpture No. 182 (1962) with No. 345
(1977) and discuss the similarities and differences
between the form and shape in the work.
10-12
Structural frame: Compare the formal qualities
of the different sculptures on display? How
do they differ, and how are they similar?
Subjective frame: What types of associations are suggested
in both Metal Sculpture No. 182 (1962) and No. 345 (1977)?
Robert Klippel’s ‘junk sculptures’ are made in all different
kinds of wacky shapes and sizes. Take a look at the different
shadows they create in the gallery space. Choose a Klippel
sculpture you’d like to draw, and on a piece of paper, draw
what you imagine its shadow would look like outside in
the afternoon as the sun goes down. What about in the
middle of the day, when the sun is overhead? Hint: mark
the location of the light source on your page by drawing a
little sun. You can erase this when you finish your drawing.
Secondary
The metal objects and scraps of machinery chosen by
Klippel to create his junk assemblages are emblematic
of a particular time and place in the development of
mechanical manufacture and industry. Create an abstract
sculpture using found and discarded items that you
believe might one day be representative of our time; an
age driven by marketing, consumerism and information
technology. Discover what discarded and defunct fragments
of contemporary life can be made new through art.
06
Emily Kame Kngwarreye
An extraordinary painter, Emily Kame Kngwarreye
started painting in her 70’s. She represented Australia
at the Venice Biennale posthumously, in 1997. Her art
is celebrated internationally, and is recognised as some
of the most important abstract art of its time.
An Anmatyerre woman, she was born around 1910, in
country known as Alhalkere, north east of Alice Springs.
Her traditional upbringing was typical of Aboriginal life
prior to European contact. Much of her life was spent in
and around Utopia, where the women in the community
were first introduced to the technique of batik printing
in 1977. Kngwarreye became an important member of the
Utopia Women’s Batik Group, producing traditional designs
on silk. In the late 1980s, the women were introduced
to acrylic paint and canvas, and Emily Kame Kngwarreye
embarked on a short but stellar career as a painter.
way in which she interpreted this meant that her work
underwent several changes in style. She experimented
with different compositions inspired by traditional
designs as well as different methods of applying paint
In the work Untitled (1991), the canvas is veiled with
her characteristic elaborate dotting, executed in
her distinctive ‘dump dump’ style. Untitled from
the body painting series (1996), is a later work
that reveals the structural underpinnings that are
hidden in earlier paintings. The monochrome stripes
represent her Dreaming, that of the pencil yam.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye Untitled from
the body painting series (1996) synthetic
polymer paint on canvas 5 parts
121 x 455cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Image courtesy and © Emily Kame
Kngwarreye. Licensed by Viscopy, 2011
An Aboriginal elder, Emily Kame Kngwarreye was a custodian
of traditional knowledge and stories concerning her
country, its spirits and ancestors. Once she began to
make art, designs previously used for ceremonial body
painting and sand drawing became the subject of her
art. Although her art was invariably about country, the
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s painting style is sometimes
described as ‘dump dump’. Look at Untitled (1991) and
suggest an alternative name for this artwork.
3-6
Compare the two paintings by Emily Kame Kngwarreye,
Untitled (1991) and Untitled from the body painting
series (1996). How do they differ in style and technique?
What do you think that they may be about?
Using a lead pencil on paper, do a simple drawing of
your home or your favourite thing from home, making
sure to only draw the outline of basic shapes. Then,
inside each shape, write down the colour that you would
like to paint it. Rub away your drawing completely but
leave the colours that you have written. Then use those
colours as a guide to create your own abstract painting,
trying not to keep within the shape from your original
drawing, but to blend one area of colour into the next,
filling your paper with colours rather than details.
Secondary
Secondary
7-9
Why do you think that Emily chose to use the
dotting technique only sometimes? What does it
mean to say that her style changed over time?
The brush strokes created by Emily Kame Kngwarreye in
Untitled from the body painting series (1996), are very
expressive and bear witness to the movement of the
artist’s hand and body. Create a body of work using an
abstract expressionist approach by experimenting with
different ways to record, track and express the gesture
of the human body. You might use paint or other tactile
media to create evidence of movement, or you might like to
experiment with the expressive potential of digital media.
10-12
Cultural frame: What elements of Aboriginal cultural
knowledge inform the work of Emily Kame Kngwarreye?
Conceptual framework: Compare how a western art
audience may respond differently to Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s
work as opposed to people from her community.
07
Ildiko Kovacs
Ildiko Kovacs is a Sydney-based artist who paints abstract
works on plywood. She works and reworks each painting,
building up the image in a layering process by scraping
back and reapplying the paint. ‘As the surface is wiped
away, more fragments and layers are left. Eventually
the painting reveals itself and takes its own form’.5
Kovacs’ works are reminiscent of an artistic style
known as abstract expressionism. One of its most
famous proponents was Jackson Pollock, whose
work Blue Poles (no. 11 1952) was purchased by
the National Gallery of Australia in 1973.
The stripes in T.T. (2004) also suggest movement, although
here there is more of an abstract emphasis on pattern
and contrast. The blue in this painting enlivens what would
otherwise be a monochromatic work. The stringy lines on
the left are counterbalanced by the twist on the right,
with the blue central panel balancing the composition.
Notice the way in which each set of stripes has its own
background, with the overall backdrop being brown.
5
Artist’s statement, wall label in Almanac: the Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA, 2009
Kovacs uses a gestural aesthetic, comprised of large
colourful works with thick ropy lines and defined shapes.
The gestural nature of her painting – reminiscent
of the large arm movements needed to achieve
it – bears close comparison with the work of Emily
Kame Kngwarreye. Kovacs cites Aboriginal art as an
influence, and in the context of the Almanac exhibition,
the paintings by these two artists create a visual
dialogue about line, texture and application of paint.
Ildiko Kovacs Lulu (1999)
oil on plywood 151.5 x 274.8cm Museum
of Contemporary Art, donated through
the Australian Government’s Cultural
Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Ildiko Kovacs T.T. (2004)
oil on masonite 60 x 60cm Museum
of Contempoary Art, donated through
the Australian Government’s Cultural
Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Kovacs’ artistic practice also takes inspiration from the
landscape. In Lulu (1999), Kovacs has created a work that
is almost alive and pulsating with colour and line. The
thick stripes have an organic rubbery feel to them, and
bulge out from the vivid blue background like seaweed.
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
What colours can you see in Lulu (1999)? What
do you think that the painting is about?
Ildiko Kovacs likes to use bold colours in her paintings, and
applies it to the canvas with big, bold brushstrokes. Sounds
like fun! To make your own abstract painting, first choose
some of your favourite bright and bold colours. Cover a large
sheet of paper with a lighter colour to create a background
and let it dry. Then choose a range of different, stronger
colours like black, white or red, and apply the paints to your
paper by making long, looping stripes over your painted
background. Simply focus on painting lines and then see what
shapes emerge. You might like to ‘layer’ your lines like Kovacs!
3-6
Is T.T. (2004) an abstract painting? What does this mean?
Secondary
7-9
What type of painting is this? What types of
shape and line does Kovacs favour?
10-12
Structural frame: Compare and contrast the paintings
by Kovacs, paying attention to line, shape, colour,
definition and texture. Can you see similar ideas
being explored across her body of work? Discuss.
Subjective frame: How does Kovacs’ work
affect you? What does it remind you of?
Cultural frame: How does Kovacs’ style compare
with that of Emily Kame Kngwarreye?
Secondary
Ildiko Kovacs’ work often takes inspiration from the
landscape. Choose a landscape that you would like to
paint, and reduce your image down to its basic forms
by minimising representation and exploring expression
through simple bold colours, shapes and lines. You might
like to experiment with paint, using complimentary colours
like red and green or indigo and yellow to create an optical
effect (check out the colour wheel for more examples),
or you might like to explore abstraction through digital
effects using image-editing software, like Photoshop,
and discover new ways to distort your landscape image.
08
Jon Lewis
Jon Lewis is a Sydney-based photographer and
environmentalist. One of the founders of Greenpeace
Australia, he was also a member of the Yellow House in
Sydney in the early 1970s. Set up by the artist Martin
Sharp amongst others, the Yellow House was an artists’
community in which artists, filmmakers and the cabaret
artist Little Nell created a kind of 24-hour arts precinct.6
A documentary photographer, Lewis captures
images of people as well as elements of the natural
world. Working in black and white, he has shot social
portraits of a wide range of people. These images
are characterised by their humanity, and by the
relationship each image establishes between person
and context. Each image reveals a figure either in a
landscape or in a setting that expresses something
about who they are, and where they live and work.
the Aboriginal stockman standing on the road in Roper
River, NT (1987), Jon Lewis captures people in their
quintessential environment. Aussie Soldier in Ainaro
Hospital ruins, from the series East Timor (2000), is a
powerful image in which the easy grace of the soldier’s
stance and the intact image of Jesus are in stark
contrast to the ruins brought about by the conflict.
See the following link for artists’ memories of the Yellow House:
http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s946211.htm
Exhibition wall label, Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO, MCA Sydney, 2009
6
7
Jon Lewis Bondi Cherub from the series
Bondi (1988) gelatin silver photograph
39.5 x 49.5cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
It is important to Lewis that trust be established between
photographer and subject, and he likes to cooperate
with his subjects in the realization of each portrait; ‘In
his hands, the camera, which can be invasive, becomes a
tool or space in which both image and subject meet’.7
Jon Lewis Joe Tapp Kilarney Station, NT (1987)
gelatin silver photograph 35.5 x 46cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, donated
through the Australian Government’s Cultural
Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
From the Bondi Cherub (1988) to the striking shot of
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
Look closely at the photograph of the boy in Bondi Cherub
(1988). Can you find seven different things in the photo?
If you could take someone’s portrait using a camera,
who would you choose to photograph? Where would you
have the photo taken? Think about how you would like
your photograph to look and draw this image on a piece
of paper or card. Discuss with your classmates why
you would choose to photograph this person and how
your setting tells a story about who this person is.
3-6
What do all these photographs have in common? Think about
the colour of these shots. What do we call a photograph or a
painting of a person? Are these people at work? Look at the
photo of the man on his horse in Joe Tapp Kilarney Station,
NT (1987). What does this photo tell you about the man?
Secondary
7-9
Lewis likes to collaborate with his subjects when taking
their photo. What does this mean? Compare the ways
in which these people have chosen to be photographed.
What does each photo communicate about the person?
10-12
Structural frame: What is documentary photography?
Look at the way Lewis frames his shots. Compare
the point of view and the position of the horizon
in each shot and discuss how this may change
the audience’s reading of the work.
Subjective frame: What do these photographs
reveal about their subjects and what techniques
has the artist used to communicate this?
Conceptual framework: How can we call Lewis’ artistic
practice collaborative? Discuss the relationship
between the figure and the context in each shot.
Secondary
Create a portrait series based on the premise of
working collaboratively with your subjects in devising
each photograph. Consider what this means with regard
to your subject’s involvement in the creative process.
Think about different framing and compositional
approaches that you could use to set the tone and
emotion of the image. Consider different stylistic and
technical devices that you could utilise to match the
representation of your subject to their persona or
character. Aim for every image in your series to be unique.
09
Robert Owen
Robert Owen is a senior Australian artist who has been
making and exhibiting art for forty-five years. A painter and
sculptor, he taught for many years at RMIT, where he was
Associate Professor and Head of Sculpture from 19882001. His practice consists equally of minimalist sculpture
and geometric abstract painting. Both these forms express
his ongoing interest in colour, light and geometric form.
His practice borrows something from the de Stijl group and
the doctine of neoplasticism that Piet Mondrian developed
around the time of World War I. Here the composition is
given aesthetic ‘weight’, balance and rhythm through use
of primary colours, rectangular shapes and asymmetry.
Owen conceives of the grid as an eternal form that is
also capable of providing infinite variations.8 His Almanac
work from the Untitled XII from the series Origami
(1992) is a fine example of this. As a colourist, Owen is
also interested in the ways in which colour works on the
nervous system. His paintings map states of emotion:
‘These paintings are about levels of feelings, orders
of sensation, shifting sequences, time and rhythm’.9
Artist’s statement, 2009
ibid.
8
9
Robert Owen
Untitled XII from the series Origami (1992)
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
121.5 x 121.5cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
What colours can you see in this painting? Which
are the brightest? What shapes can you find?
Cut out a range of rectangles and squares of
different sizes and colours, and arrange these on a
large sheet of thick card. Try a few different ways
to arrange your cut-out shapes, and when you are
happy with your result, stick your shapes down with
glue to create your own geometric colour collage.
3-6
What do we call this arrangement of shapes?
Hint – it has to do with the way streets are laid out in
a city. Why do we call this type of art abstract? How
does the colour in this painting make you feel?
7-9
What relationship do these colours have to each other?
Which colours are primary and which are not?
To advance the activity above, cut along some of the lines
created by your coloured shapes, but keep your piece of card
intact (in other words, do not cut your piece of card so far
that you end up with two or more pieces). Fold in along the
remaining lines that are not cut. Then flop, fold and shape
your collage into a self-standing sculpture, with the coloured
sides facing out. Experiment with the arrangement of your
sculpture – there might be more than one way to present it!
10-12
Secondary
Structural frame: What type of abstract
painting does Owen practice?
Conduct some artistic research into colour theory and the
colour wheel, to gain an understanding of the definitions
and key concepts behind certain colour harmonies, such
as monochromatic, complimentary, analogous and triadic some of which are used here by Owen in his Untitled XII from
the series Origami (1992). Create your own artistic response
to your research findings – you may wish to work within
the convention of geometric abstraction and the grid, or
experiment with other modes of composition and expression.
Secondary
Subjective frame: How do Owen’s paintings affect
you? What role does colour play in his work?
Cultural frame: What artistic tradition
is Robert Owen working in?
10
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was one of the most influential
artists of his generation. A mid-century American
artist, he was a key figure in the move toward pop art
and away from abstract expressionism, which had been
the dominant artistic style of the mid 20th Century.
Rauschenberg was a pioneer in the use of nonartistic found objects and also in the method
of assemblage. He called his assemblage works
Combines, and produced many of these in the 1950s
and ‘60s. One of these, entitled Monogram (1955-59),
consisted of a stuffed angora goat, a tyre, a police
barrier, the heel of a shoe, a tennis ball and paint.10
Tampa Clay Piece 4 (1972) is a postmodern wall piece
that plays on various ideas around authenticity and
‘the copy’, and even questions what art is. Taking his
cue from everyday things, he has created a ceramic
and silk-screen sculpture of a squashed cardboard
box that has been sent through the mail. He has even
reproduced its grimy overlay by rubbing it with dirt.
See http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/robertrauschenberg/about-the-artist/49/ accessed 12/10/2010
ibid.
10
11
Like Rosalie Gascoigne, he had an artist’s eye for
discerning how disparate materials and objects could
lend themselves to art. ‘The idea of combining and
of noticing combinations of objects and images has
remained at the core of Rauschenberg’s work’.11
Robert Rauschenberg
Tampa Clay Piece 4 (1972)
ceramic, silkscreen, soil patina, 1 of 3 Trial Proofs
24 x 44cm (irreg.) Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Image courtesy and © Untitled Press
Inc./VAGA. Licensed by Viscopy, 2011
In the 1970s, he concentrated on printmaking and
on the use of photographs to make silk-screen
prints. He was also an innovator with regard to
artistic practice, touring the world for seven years
in the 1980s in order to make art, promote peace
and learn from cultures other than this own.
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
What do you think Tampa Clay Piece 4 (1972)
is made of? What does it look like and how
do you think the artist made it?
Robert Rauschenberg liked to make carefully crafted copies
of everyday objects. Using cardboard and/or modeling clay,
have a go at making a copy sculpture of something in your
house or class room. It could be a phone, a computer or
keyboard, or a lunch box (with your lunch inside!). For the
final finishing touches, you might like to use pencils, textas
or paints to complete your ‘copy’ sculpture. Can you trick
anyone by replacing the original object with your copy?
3-6
This artist was interested in making artworks that
looked like ordinary things in the world. What do you
think this work of art is? What is it made of?
Secondary
7-9
Is this an artwork? Argue a case for or against and
discuss how it may differ from traditional works of art?
10-12
Postmodern frame: What ideas does Tampa Clay Piece 4
(1972) raise? How does Rauschenberg play on the idea of
‘the copy’? Why do you think this work is in an art gallery?
Secondary
Robert Rauschenberg has used ceramic, silkscreen and
a soil patina (i.e., dirt smear!) to convincingly recreate
the appearance of a squashed, used cardboard box.
What other materials do you think could have been used
to produce an identical likeness to recycled cardboard?
Think of some of the objects and appliances that you use
everyday – your mobile phone, toothbrush, keys or toaster.
Think about the character of each object and the anecdotal
nature of their appearance (i.e., how does each object
convey a sense of age, frequency of use or function?).
What materials could you use to trick bystanders into
thinking that your work of art is a plain old, day-to-day
object? How will you recreate the particular appearance
of your object and reconstruct its finer details?
11
Neil Roberts
Neil Roberts was a Queanbeyan based artist, writer,
teacher and artistic collaborator, who liked to work across
different media. He created installations that variously
featured found objects, light and text. He executed a
number of public art commissions in several cities, including
works in the Canberra Playhouse Theatre, the Cabrini
Hospital in Melbourne and the ACT Magistrates Court.
Neil Roberts 92 bounces 30.11.95 from the series
Bradman’s tank (1995) boot polish on paper
76.5 x 56.5cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
Neil Roberts was an avid collector of everyday objects,
particularly tools and other things associated with
masculine activity. The three metal assemblages on
display are from a much larger installation called
The Great Ultimates (1994). This work celebrates the
form, function and history of obsolete objects in a
way that alludes to the great role they once played.
Neil Roberts 3 works from the series The Great
Ultimates (1994) found metal assemblage
100 x 36cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
92 bounces 30.11.95 (1995), on the other hand, is part of
a performance series in which the artist bounced balls
covered with shoe polish on paper. This work refers to
the story about the great Australian cricketer, Donald
Bradman, who, as a child, practiced hitting a golf ball
against a water tank using a cricket stump as his bat.12
12
Wall label, MCA Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
What shape can you see in the works from the
series The Great Ultimates (1994) by the artist
Neil Roberts? How many of them are there?
Neil Roberts collects scrap parts and old objects to make
his artworks. In The Great Ultimates (1994), all of the objects
collected are in the shape of a circle. What old items can
you find around your home that are circular in shape? You
might find an old Milo tin lid, milk bottle rims or some jam
jar lids. Create a mobile display of your circular objects by
attaching them with string to a wire coat-hanger – you
could even ask an adult to help you bend the coat-hanger
into a round shape to make another circle! How many circles
can you find? Experiment with the marks made using these
circular shapes by painting them and printing them on paper.
3-6
The artist has used ‘found materials’ in The Great
Ultimates (1994) and 92 bounces 30.11.95 (1995). Where
do you think the artist might have found these objects?
Secondary
7-9
How does the work 92 bounces 30.11.95 (1995)
relate to Don Bradman’s personal history? What
element links the artist and the cricketer? Why do
you think Roberts made this work in this way?
Is 92 bounces 30.11.95 (1995) a drawing?
Argue a case for and against.
10-12
Structural frame: Discuss the visual appeal of
the pieces from The Great Ultimates (1994)?
Cultural frame: Discuss the role of assemblage,
recycling and masculinity in the work of Neil Roberts.
Secondary
What objects can you find around your home that
have become obsolete, redundant or are deficient in
comparison to newer models and devices? How might
you reinterpret these objects in the making of a body
of work? Just as Neil Roberts has used an old tennis
ball to create a DIY-style print on paper, think of ways
that you might be able to indirectly utilise your objects
in the production of your artwork, as opposed to
incorporating your found object within the work itself.
12
Lola Ryan
Lola Ryan was an Aboriginal artist from the Dharawal
people of coastal NSW. Her body of work was created
using shell-working techniques that are specific to
the women’s art around La Perouse, her community
in south Sydney. She used the tiny shells – found
objects – to create small iconographic sculptures
of Sydney, as in Harbour Bridge (c. 2000). Other
pieces by Ryan include an array of embroidered
babies’ booties, also decorated with small shells.
Richly detailed and coloured, these sculptures also
employ popular craft materials such as glitter, fabric and
fluorescent paint. They take the place of the shell grit
that was used in the past. The shell-working tradition
has only been around for the last 140 years or so.
‘the makers have consistently adapted, with some acuity,
their designs and ways of working to suit the markets that
became available to them’.13 According to Glenn Barkley, the
curator of Almanac: the Gift of Ann Lewis AO, such works
represent the ability of Aboriginal people to ‘adapt and
survive under the cultural weight of the colonisers’.14 This
is especially the case for those living in urban contexts.
http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/indig_part/NMA_
Economy_shells_20091109.html accessed 14/10 2010
Glenn Barkley, Catalogue essay Almanac: the Gift of Ann Lewis
AO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2009
13
14
Lola Ryan Harbour Bridge (c. 2000)
fabric, glitter, cardboard, glue, shells
16 x 38 x 7cm Museum of Contemporary Art,
donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by Ann Lewis AO, 2009
During the Victorian era, Dharawal women created
these pieces for the tourist trade, and they were sold
alongside such items as boomerangs, made by men from
the community. Maria Nugent comments that since then,
Thinking about it
Making it
Primary
Primary
K-2
Lola Ryan chose to make models of well-known
structures. This one is in Sydney. What is it called? What
materials has she used? How has she decorated it?
To make your own decorative bridge, you’ll need two sheets
of coloured card and two empty toilet paper rolls. On one
card, draw the outline of a bridge - you might like to draw
the Sydney Harbour Bridge or another famous bridge that
you know of. Cut out your bridge and use this shape to trace
onto the other piece of card. Once you have two identical
bridge cut-outs, use a texta or pencil to add more detail and
stand the two pieces of card together with the drawn sides
facing out. The two toilet rolls are your bridge ends - attach
them to the inside of you bridge cut-outs at either end using
sticky tape or glue. Then the fun part! Decorate your bridge
by sticking on different coloured buttons, shells, bottle tops,
glitter and sequins. What patterns can you create with your
decorative craft materials? What colours will you choose?
3-6
Look carefully at Harbour Bridge (c. 2000) and
list the materials you see. Why do you think
she choose to use these materials?
Secondary
7-9
Which elements in this work have traditional
Aboriginal significance and which have
contemporary relevance? Discuss.
10-12
Structural frame: What artistic form or discipline
does Harbour Bridge (c.2000) draw on?
Cultural frame: Discuss the way in which Ryan’s work
combines older practices with contemporary culture.
Conceptual framework: How might different
audiences respond to Ryan’s work? Discuss
its cultural and political significance.
Secondary
Lola Ryan’s body of work is created using shell-working
techniques that are specific to the women’s craftwork
practiced within her community in south Sydney. Think of
other creative practices, Indigenous and non-Indigenous,
that are associated with women’s craft, such as sewing,
weaving, knitting and scrap booking. If you were to take up
one of these craft practices, and use it within your own
art practice, how would you adapt it, urbanise it and make
it relevant to a contemporary audience? Think about skills,
techniques and materials – what aspects of the traditional
practice would you keep and what would you change?
13
Glossary
Abstract Expressionism The name
given to new forms of abstract art
that were developed by American
artists in the 1940s and 1950s. Their
aim was to produce art that was
expressive and emotional in its effect.
Leading exponents were Jackson
Pollock and Willem De Kooning.
Assemblage The use of found
material to create art objects.
Batik printing A traditional
Javanese method of wax
resist printing on cloth.
Camera Club of New York Founded
in 1884, this was a forum to support
and nurture photographers and to
introduce new technologies. Two
significant early members were
Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston.
Colour field painting A sub-grouping
of Abstract Expressionist artists
who were interested in mythology
and religion. They painted simple
compositions with large areas of a
single colour intended to produce a
contemplative or meditative effect.
Celebrated practitioners were Mark
Rothko and Barnett Newman.
De Stijl The name of a circle of
artists who gathered around a
publication of the same name
launched in Holland in 1917 by
pioneers of abstract art, Piet
Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg.
The term means ‘style’.
Detritus the remains of something
that has been destroyed or broken up
Donald Bradman (1908-2001) known
as ‘the boy from Bowral’, Bradman
is remembered as one of the
greatest batsmen in the game of
Cricket. Representing Australia for
20 years, he played 52 tests from
1928/29-1948, during the years of
depression and hardship. He retired
with a batting average of 99.94.
The Dreaming A parallel realm
of creation, where, according to
traditional Aboriginal belief, the
land, people, plants and animals
came into being as a result of
the actions of Ancestral Beings.
Spirit figures from the Dreaming
continue to co-exist with humans.
Dump dump style A style of
painting particular to the work of
the Aboriginal artist Emily Kame
Kngwarreye, whereby she would cover
the canvas in large uneven dotting
Found object A found or bought
object kept by an artist because of
some intrinsic interest it has. Found
objects can become artworks by
being exhibited as they are, by being
incorporated into assemblages
or exhibited as readymades.
Geometric abstraction The type of
Abstract Expressionism pioneered
by the De Stijl group, based on strict
geometric horizontals and verticals.
Group f/64 A group of seven San
Francisco photographers who
promoted a specifically American
photographic aesthetic of sharply
focused and carefully framed images
of natural forms and found objects.
Members included Anselm Adams,
Edward Weston and Willard van Dyke.
Hatching (Parallel, Cross, and
Single-line) the decorative infill
(also called Rarrk) characteristic
of certain types of Aboriginal art
from the Northern territory
Hot melt Polyamide adhesive
glue used as a casting material.
Ikebana the tradition of Japanese
flower arranging that follows a set
of rules concerning form and line.
Iconography Images that are
outstanding or have a special
meaning attached to them.
Kinetic Relating to motion. Kinetic
art relies on motion for its effects.
Martin Sharp (born 1942) A
Sydney artist who was one of
the ‘Yellow House’ in Sydney.
Minimalism An extreme form of
abstract art that developed in the
1960s that explored very simple
abstract shapes based on the square
and the rectangle. Frank Stella
was a leading minimalist painter.
Motif A recurring pattern,
theme or fragment that
appears in a work of art.
Negative space Space around the
subject of a work that possesses
artistic interest or value.
Neo-Plasticism A certain type of
abstract art practiced by the artists
of the De Stijl group, based on a strict
geometry of horizontals and verticals.
Op art A painting style that
developed in the 1960s that
aimed to produce optical illusions
based on geometric forms.
Bridget Riley is a leading exponent
of contemporary op art.
Pictorialism The name given to a
photographic movement around 1885
that advocated that photography
emulate the conventions of
painting and etching at the time.
Plinth The support or stand on
which traditionally sculpture rests.
Pop art Pop art is a movement
that emerged in the late 1950s in
the US. It advocated the use of the
mass-produced visual commodities
in art and drew themes and
techniques from popular culture.
Significant artists include Andy
Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.
Posthumously after death
Readymade The term coined by
the French artist Marcel Duchamp
to describe his artworks made
from manufactured objects.
Utopia Women’s Batik Group A
movement that lasted for about
a decade from the introduction
of batik printmaking in 1977.
14
Resources
Almanac: the Gift of Ann Lewis AO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2009.
Gallery A Sydney: 1964-1983, Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney, 2009.
Georges Petitjean, Contemporary Aboriginal Art: The AAMU and Dutch Collections, AAMU, 2010
Wilson, Simon and Jessica Lack, The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms, Tate Publishing, 2008.
Websites
http://www. jonnylewis.org/
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngv-media
http://nga.gov.au/Dreaming/Index.cfm?Refrnc=Ch3
http://www.nma.gov.au
http://www.pbs.org:wnet:americanmasters:episodes:robert-rauschenberg:about-the-artist:49:
http://www.artlink.com.au/articles/2763/neil-roberts-a-gentle-and-special-man/
http://archive.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/archived/2004/robert_owen/more_info
http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s946211.htm
Acknowledgements
With thanks to Judith Blackall, Head of Artistic Programs, Glenn Barkley, Curator, Karen Hall, Touring
Exhibitions & Projects Manager and Adele Maskiell, Coordinator, Formal & Informal Learning.
Resource written by Kate Sands, MCA Art Educator and Adele Maskiell Coordinator Formal and Informal
Learning. Learning activities written by Kate Sands and Olivia Kloosterman. Designed by Arnel Rodriguez.
Exhibition touring venues & dates
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
8 December 2009 – 18 April 2010
New England Regional Art Gallery
18 November 2011 – 5 February 2012
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery
10 January – 6 February 2011
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
9 March – 29 April 2012
Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery
17 February – 3 April 2011
Tweed River Art Gallery
11 May – 24 June 2012
Wollongong City Gallery
16 April – 5 June 2011
Newcastle Region Art Gallery
25 August – 11 November 2012
Exhibition organised and toured by the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Tour Partner
This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government
Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance
for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia.