A visit to see "John Olsen: The You Beaut Country" and "Symphony of Boxes".

I don't often visit the city, but this week I have been able to visit twice in order to catch up with old friends.  I timetabled my first visit so that I was able to also fit in a side-trip to the Ian Potter Centre in the NGV to catch the John Olsen exhibition, "John Olsen: The You Beaut Country".  This exhibition explores his work from 1960 and his travels through Europe then moves on to his focus on Australian identity, and the Australian landscape - especially Lake Eyre.  Unfortunately, circumstances meant that my visit had to be very quick, but I really enjoyed my visit and would encourage other people interested in how the Australian landscape can be interpreted to visit before the exhibition finishes.

I wasn't really very keen on his early work.  It felt a bit messy and lacking in focus, cohesion and control.  However, gradually it began to gain focus and control, while still remaining abstract, as in this piece in oils, "View of the Western World " from 1956.

 

and this one, "The Bicycle Boys Rejoice" from 1955.

 

 

Gradually, his more widely recognised signature style evolved from works like "Spanish Encounter" 1960

 

 

to works like "Where the bee sucks, there suck I" (1984-6) 

 

 

 

with his typical use of  wobbling lines, rich colour and almost cartoonish portrayals. 

 

A lot of his landscapes are reminiscent of maps, like "Childhood by the seaport' 1965

 

 

 or the Australian aboriginal style of taking an overhead view of a landscape and using symbols, like

"River passing through a plain"1982

 

 I became more and more enchanted by the colour, range and development of his work as he got older.  This is "Golden Summer" 1983.

 

 

 And this is "Poet's garden" 2005.

 
This later work to me seems much more fun and much more reflective of Australia.

 

Olsen did not just paint on canvas and composition board.  As well as painting, Olsen also worked in coordination  with tapestry makers to create some rather stunning pieces.  For instance, "Joie de Vivre" (1964-5) was created with Tapecerias Portalegre Workshops,

while "Light playing with evolution"( 1989) was a joint project with the Australian Workshop  artists Andrea May and Peter Churcher

  

 Olsen also worked as a decorator with the potter, Robert Mair,  create a huge tea and coffee setting from 1970 -1
 

 

 I also liked some of his other techniques like this pen and ink and pastel, 1998 "Monkfish"
 

and "Laughing Frog"( 1977), an aquatint print.

 I particularly found his sketching books fascinating and very illuminating.  He wrote in a beautiful italic style and his sketches revealed very clearly his range of techniques and skills and sources of inspiration.

 One of the joys of visiting the Ian Potter centre is discovering what the latest exhibition being shown outside  the entrance is.  This time, it was an exhibition by Mapping Melbourne of the work of 800 young Melbournians called "Symphony of Boxes".  Such fun, bright, imaginative work.