10/11/13 First UK exhibition for Australian landscape artist John Olsen

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Coopers Creek John Olsen, courtesy Osborne Samuel
ONE of Australia's greatest living painters, John Olsen, is set to present his
first ever exhibition of works in the UK at the Osborne Samuel gallery in
Mayfair.
Acknowledged as the elder statesman of Australian contemporary art,
Olsen (b. 1928) was prominent among the second wave of Australian
painters who put their nation's art on the international map after World War
2. He has been described by the former head curator of Australian Art at the
NSW Art Gallery as "the king, the one who has defined the continent of his
generation better than anyone else.
Perhaps best known for his monumental mural Salute To Five Bells which
hangs in the foyer of the Sydney Opera House, Olsen's work is marked by a
deep engagement with the landscape and wildlife of the Australian interior.
Whilst he acknowledges the important contribution that his artistic
forerunners such as Sidney Nolan and Fred Williams made to Australian
landscape painting, he observes, "the Australian landscape hasn't been
artistically defined. we are a very young civilisation. in a very, very old
landscape.
Whereas the Australian outback is usually noted for its austerity and
inhospitality, in Olsen's vibrant paintings it pulsates with colour and teems
with life; he observes, " am an explorer, the outback is my studio. to me
the landscape has a soul and is alive. Rivers are like veins, the plains skin,
the mountains muscle and sinew. His characteristically quizzical lines and
Topics
art exhibitions, Australian art,
australian artist, John Olsen,
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Home Entertainment Arts & CuIture
First UK exhibition for AustraIian Iandscape artist John OIsen
One of AustraIia's greatest Iiving painters, John OIsen, is set to present his first ever exhibition of works
in the UK at the Osborne SamueI gaIIery in Mayfair.
By Australian Times on 26 September, 2013 3:55 pm in Arts & Culture, Editor's Choice / no comments
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10/11/13 First UK exhibition for Australian landscape artist John Olsen
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irregular whirls and dots deftly render countless organisms, large and
minute, and his open spaces are often as full of living things as an outback
dry lake after the rains.
Frequently combining an implied aerial view with an ambiguous and
seemingly unpremeditated figuration, Olsen's environment is conjured
through loosely brushed and stained expanses of colour that are keyed with
natural light. n his work there is no foreground / middle ground /
background schema, nor any sign of European landscape's concern with
human scale; instead he employs simultaneously the vantages of naturalist
and geographer, observing "in my paintings the landscape almost writes
itself.
John Olsen's work is represented in all Australian state gallery collections
including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales
and National Museum of Australia, as well as many public and private
collections around the world. He has won numerous awards including the
Archibald Prize (2005) and the Centenary Medal (2001). n 1977 he was
appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and in 2001 he was
made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
His debut UK show at Osborne Samuel will be opened by legendary
Australian comedian Barry Humphries, and coincides with the Royal
Academy's Australia exhibition, which will be the first major survey of
Australian art to take place in Britain for over 50 years (21 September 8
December 2013).
The John Olsen exhibition will be hosted at the Osborne Samuel gallery
from 3 - 26 October 2013. See osbornesamuel.com for more
information.
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