Gallery One with RICHARD DUNLOP: Luxurious Inner Gardens

Gallery One with RICHARD DUNLOP: Luxurious Inner Gardens

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Luxurious Inner Gardens RICHARD DUNLOP 5 Nov - 20 Nov 2021

Luxurious Inner Gardens

These are fictive landscapes, and they have their debts to art history. It’s important to me that certain languages or conversations in painting are continued, that there is a bloodline of optimistic dialogue about form and colour, a dialect which survives. This series was imagined and begun in 2020 and is likely to be a long series. The works are intended to be optimistic, light-filled and uplifting in tone. There were a lot of visual tributaries to explore, and some of those included hybridizing the genres of still life, interiors, and landscape with subtle remnants of scientific botanical illustration. The psychological territory of ‘inner gardens’, and the fishponds which complement them provided imagery to also play with perspective and ambiguous fields of depth in the picture plane, so that with a stretch of the imagination, the viewer can ‘enter’ the world of the picture. For all of us, more than ever before perhaps, everything is increasingly centered around home environments, so I figured that the ‘inner gardens’ that inhabit the walls of homes might as well be luxurious. I made these paintings in complete isolation, listening to classical music. I benefited from the pulse of their compositions, brushstrokes applied like musical notes of different density and tone. Some works suggest extra luxuriance (Magnificent Inner Garden in Blue) while others follow the lines of security and protection (Arbour and Fantail: Adult Koi Protecting Fry). The fish paintings I admit owe some debt to Matisse – as the modulated, sometimes stinging blues, and arabesque forms might suggest. The use of a balcony view in a work like Safe Harbour (Balcony View of the Tweed) is likewise a nod to Brett Whiteley’s lyrical Lavender Bay landscapes (which he in turn borrowed from Matisse and the internal framing devices used by Francis Bacon for his Pope series). Whiteley would encourage painters to “record the glimpse

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seen at the highest point of affection – points of optical ecstacy, where romanticism and optimism overshadow any form of menace of foreboding”. This is a disposition which I hope also comes through in my Luxurious Inner Garden series. Whiteley also said during that special patch of his whole oeuvre that: “I have to paint pictures that have an effortless naturalness, not artificial or synthetic, not manufactured. I have to paint pictures that have no affectation through mental tricks, but are graceful and according to nature. Every part should be poetic and responsible for its own existence. It should be easy to take. I try to change the meaning of the thing painted into a new image – an elevated feeling.” I feel that I have concluded the same thing with my own work, and I hope that it shows in this series. I suspect that paintings done in such a frame of mind will have enduring, if mysterious appeal to others. There are several paintings of Japanese goldfish (Koi or “swimming jewels”), each dealing with the confines of their own space within the abstract arena of the painting. I wanted to depict the fish at some equivalence with the water in which they were moving, just as the most graceful of Olympic swimmers have an instinctual affinity with water. The concept of an aquarium, a finite space and resource which must be shared, navigated and negotiated, is something of keen interest for its metaphorical potential at the moment. When I am not in the studio, I am in the garden. When not in either, I gravitate towards online clips on philosophy or interviews with artists like Nick Cave, who claims that all art is only ever about one of three great themes - love, death or (the gaining or loss of ) faith. There is so much angry, pessimistic artwork that plentifully covers all issues at the current moment, so my contribution is a visual alternative mainly with its roots in the history of painting and mostly in the love category. I get some of my best ideas about gardening while I’m painting, and some of my best ideas for painting while gardening.

Richard Dunlop, 2021

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Balcony View to the Luxurious Inner Garden

Oil on Linen 156x202 cm

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Luxurious Inner Garden (Coast Style)

Oil on Linen 140x206 cm

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“Like Fairweather, Dunlop is attracted to Eastern philosophy, particularly the Taoist vision of the intertwined relationship between nature and man, heaven and earth. For me, Dunlop’s work is spiritual although he’s a practical fellow who expresses no spiritual aspiration in conversation. He allows the viewer to add layers of meaning and I cannot help but regard his work as inherently spiritual. That spirituality is encapsulated in his vision of the life force that flows through everything. Dylan Thomas wrote about that in his poem The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower. That force, wrote Thomas, “drives my green age”. I cannot look at the complex botanical works of Dunlop without thinking of those lines and that “green age”. Phil Brown

Magnificent Inner Garden in Blue Oil on Linen 196x172 cm

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Safe Harbour (Balcony View to the Tweed) Oil on Linen 150x150 cm

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“Dunlop’s imagery has an unusual feeling. He is not simply painting a landscape, but cracking it open, his eye swimming in to find the specific components, and how they are constructed. There is a sense that Dunlop is pulling things apart with his work, fragmenting and reforming to understand what it is that he sees.” Andrew Harper

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“Dunlop understands that completely lifting his thoughts on any overtly political or moralistic issues would undermine their power, inhibit the sheer joy of seeing how he can make paint dance, flow and achieve enviable luminosity. Herein lies the genius, as it is the joy of viewing the painting that enables escapism. It creates a prolonged engagement for the audience to view his paintings with the sensitivity and consideration with which they were crafted.”

Eric Nash

Chinese Screen (with Wattle) Oil on Linen 142x199 cm

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Fantail (Adult Koi Protecting Fry)

Oil on Linen 132x200 cm

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Opera (in Shared Waters) Oil on Linen 140x200 cm

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Sunlover Oil on Linen 140x200 cm

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A favourite studio chair

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“Richard’s work exhibits a concentrated approach to developing an art practice, sustained over a long period. He has consistently carved a unique niche for his work – his painting practice contributes significantly to ongoing dialogues and discussions relevant to contemporary painting although he doesn’t subscribe to any one existing style or theoretical framework. He has developed a unique style while continuing to experiment and extend the boundaries of his own practice. If anything, Richard’s practice is innovative by virtue of its singular focus.” Alison Kubler

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Balcony View to the Beautiful Arches

Oil on Linen 145x196 cm

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“Dunlop is often credited with the hybridisation of established genres such as still life, landscape and botanical art, as he borrows conventions freely from each and merges them into a new painterly paradigm within the edges of the canvas. The merging of recognisable imagery from these genres with ambiguous forms, areas of abstraction and multiple perspectives is analogous to the impression of an experience, and the many ways it is absorbed through the mind and body.” Marguerite Brown

Spectacular Inner Garden Oil on Linen 208x168 cm

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Magnificent Screen with Bird of Pradise Oil on Linen 170x206 cm

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“Dunlop’s work stands up well with a wide range of artists whose work resonates with his own free colourist style – from the sensuous, decorative painting of Matisse, William Scott and Brett Whiteley to the roughly applied brushstrokes of Philip Guston and Alberto Burri; from the playful wandering line of Paul Klee to the carefully modulated forms and inky backgrounds of Modigliani.” Sue Smith

Spectacular Inner Garden Oil on Linen 200x140 cm

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Young Love Oil on Linen 152x136 cm

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Arbour Oil on Linen 210x165 cm

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BIOGRAPHY

Richard Dunlop was born on 24 December 1960 about 100 metres from where he established his first art studio in his teenage bedroom at 68 Amarina Ave, Ashgrove, Brisbane, a suburb in which all of the streets are named after flora (including poisonous varieties). The leafy surrounds of the suburb are routinely assumed by critics as the impetus for the artist’s idiosyncratic way of depicting sub-tropical botany teeming with life and metaphorical loadings about cycles of beauty and tragedy. Dunlop began exhibiting in Brisbane in 1985, painting at nights while employed by the Queensland Education Department. First as a teacher in south-western Queensland, then as a prominent curriculum developer, he obtained three degrees, including a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland in 1992. Some overseas curriculum development assignments took him to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Tonga, and East Timor working for various international aid agencies and the United Nations.

Dunlop attained a second PhD in Art from Griffith University in 2007, this time earning the University Medal for Academic Excellence at PhD Level for 2007.

The artist exhibited periodically overseas in the early to mid-2000’s – with solo exhibitions in Zurich, Tokyo, Auckland, and London, and in group shows in New York, Milan, Los Angeles and Toronto. Nevertheless, his work remains very unfamiliar to audiences beyond Australia, apart from the at- tention of a handful of international collectors with multiple works from various series of the artist’s 30-year career. Dunlop currently lives and works in Deloraine, Tasmania.

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RICHARD DUNLOP CV 2003–2007

Doctor of Visual Arts, Queensland College of Art (Received Griffith University Award for Academic Excellence at PhD level)

1989–1992 1985–1989 1982–1985

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Queensland Master of Educational Studies, University of Queensland Bachelor of Education, Queensland University of Technology

SELECT AWARDS AND PRIZES 2018

Finalist, Glover Prize, Tasmania Finalist, Bruny Island Prize, Tasmania

2016 2015 2014

Finalist, Waterhouse Prize, South Australia Museum Finalist, Tattersall’s Invitational National landscape Prize

Finalist, Tattersall’s Art Prize, Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane Winner, Paintings Category, Waterhouse Art Prize, South Australia Museum (Tour to National Archives, Canberra) Finalist, Blake Prize, University of New South Wales, Dec 2014 – Jan 2015 Finalist, Willoughby National Sculpture Award, New South Wales Finalist, Fleurieu Art Prize, World’s Richest Landscape Prize, South Australia Judge, National Painting Prize, Waterhouse Natural History Prize, Museum of South Australia Semi-Finalist, Doug Moran National Portrait Prize Finalist, Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (National Tour of Regional Galleries) Winner, Painting Category, Waterhouse Prize, South Australia Museum (Tour to National Archives, Canberra)

2013

2012

2010

Finalist, Fleurieu Art Prize (Food and Wine), South Australia Finalist, Tattersall’s Landscape Prize, Brisbane Finalist, Albany Art Prize, WA Finalist, Glover Prize, Tasmania Finalist, Waterhouse Prize, South Australia Finalist, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery Finalist, Tattersall’s Landscape Prize, Brisbane

2009

2008

Finalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW (National Tour including Bendigo Art Gallery, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Art Gallery, Lismore Regional Art Gallery.)

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Finalist, Stanthorpe National Art Prize, QLD Finalist, John Leslie Art Prize, Gippsland Regional Art Gallery, VIC Finalist, Blake Prize, NSW Finalist, Fleurieu Art Prize, South Australia (Vistas; Food and Wine) Griffith University Award for Excellence at PhD level (Doctor of Visual Art) Finalist, Glover Prize, Tasmania Finalist, Waterhouse Prize, South Australia Finalist, Sunshine Coast Art Prize Finalist, Tattersall’s Prize

2007

2006

Finalist, Blake Prize (National Tour including University of New South Wales, Delmar Trinity Gallery, Port Macquarie Gallery, Grafton Regional Gallery and Toowoomba Regional Gallery) Finalist, Jacaranda Drawing Prize (National Tour including Port Macquarie Hastings Regional Gallery, Tamworth City Gallery, University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Redland Art Gallery) Finalist, Glover Prize, Hobart Finalist, Alice Prize, Alice Springs Finalist, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra regional Art Gallery Finalist, Tattersall’s Art Prize Finalist, Theiss Art Prize, Griffith University

2005

Arts Queensland Major Grant Salon De Refuses, S.H. Erwin Gallery (National Trust), NSW

2000 1995

Residency, Randall Studio

Keizai Koho Fellowship, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima

COLLECTIONS INCLUDE: 111 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Anna Goldsworthy, Recital Pianist, Adam Gilchrist, Australian Cricketer, Brisbane City Gallery, Buon Ricordo, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne, Finucan Family, Forte Lawyers, Melbourne, Gladstone Art Gallery, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Grafton Regional Art Gallery, Greg and Marissa Mann (Dig-It), Griffith University, Brisbane, Guest Lawyers, Brisbane, Hayward Trust, Church of England Grammar School, Brisbane, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hugo Weaving, Hollywood Actor, Keizai Koho Centre, Japan Institute for Social and Economic Development, Tokyo, King of Tonga, George Tupou V, Kelly Chambers, Macquarie Bank, Michael Fox Arts Accountant and Valuer, Melbourne, Michael Ovitz, USA, Museum of Brisbane, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (James Baker), Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Naomi Watts, Hollywood Actor, National Library of Australia, Perc Tucker Re- gional Gallery, Townsville, Queensland Potters’ Association, Queensland University of Technology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, WA, Ray Hughes, Sydney, Ray White Real Estate Corporate Collection, Rockhampton Art Gallery, Simul International Inc, Tokyo, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Steve Cohen, USA, The Liturgical Commission, Brisbane, University of Central Queensland, University of Southern Queensland, University of New South Wales, University of Tasmania, Wesley Hospital Collection, Zimmermann, Zurich Insurance, Zurich

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SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2012

James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Memorial Park: New Paintings of Nostalgic Subjects Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Classical Arrangements Greenhill Galleries, Perth – Old Growth Hill-Smith Gallery, Adelaide – Delicatessen James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Still Life, Still Death: ANZAC Memorials and Other New Paintings

2019

James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Opening night 31 May Colville Gallery, Hobart – Garden in the Mountains, Somewhere near Deloraine Sydney Contemporary Art Fair (James Makin Gallery) Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville – Richard Dunlop: A Northern Survey James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Made on Location Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Crossing the Rubicon River Hill-Smith Gallery, Adelaide – The Arab Spring and other Natural History Notes Jan Murphy Gallery, July Pop-Up Exhibition, Sydney – Shunga: Pictures of Spring James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Sublime East: Neo-Romantic Landscapes Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Sublime East: Neo-Romantic Landscapes

2011

2018

2017

2010

Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Larger Than Life

2009

Hill-Smith Gallery, Adelaide – Green Shoots of Recovery James Makin Gallery, Melbourne – Less is Morte Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney – Age of Exploration Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Maps, Natural History and Quite Ambitious Plans Retrospective Survey Exhibition, Perc Tucker Regional Art Gallery, Townsville – Second Nature

2016

2015

2008

2014

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2007

Queensland College of Art, Griffith University – 100% Organic Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney – 100% Organic Delgany (National Trust), Portsea, Victoria – Richard Dunlop: Recent Paintings Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney – To Sow, to Reap Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – The First Cut is the Deepest: The Tattoo Paintings Retrospective Survey Exhibition, Rockhampton Regional Art Gallery – Second Nature Retrospective Survey Exhibition, Redland Regional Art Gallery – A Study in Genius Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Signs of Still Life Despard Gallery, Hobart – News of the World

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Tattoo: Paintings from the Late 80’s to Now Open Studio Exhibition, Brisbane (Preview for Sydney Exhibition) – Tattoo: Paintings from the late 80’s to Now (Pre view for Sydney) Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Still Life Retrospective Survey Exhibition, Brisbane City Art Gallery – The Chosen Ones Brisbane City Residency Exhibition, Randall Studio, Represented by Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Richard Dunlop: Still Lifes and New Paintings from Switzerland Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Hinterland Open Studio Exhibition, Zurcherstrasse, Zurich – Recent Paintings of Switzerland

2006

2001

2005

2000

1999

2004

Michael Reid Art Dealer, Sydney – Richard Dunlop: Recent Works

1998

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Second Nature

2003

Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane – Pollen Retrospective Survey Exhibition, Mackay Regional Art Gallery – Richard Dunlop: Botanica

1997

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney – Night Garden: Selective Cuttings

“[Dunlop] is emphatic in the fact that his sole goal is to put something beautiful in the world; something that was not there before.” Frances Vinall

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