A Portrait of a Painter at Off the Kerb Gallery

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Thu 07 Feb 2019 - Thu 21 Feb 2019

A Portrait of a Painter is a new group exhibition showing at Off the Kerb Gallery. It brings together an incredible line up of artists who were invited to portray a painter who inspires them. It could be a painter from history, or a contemporary painter, however the subject must work solely as a painter, working in oils, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, ink or aerosol.

The group of artists chosen for this exhibition work in a range of media and include Melissa Grisancich, a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, and well known street artists such as Tom Gerrard, Kit Bennett and Goodie, who have works at the Benalla Wall to Wall festival.

Visual artist Nicole Evans has chosen artist Sam Yong, who also happens to be her partner, as her muse. Nicole describes Sam as inspirational in many ways. Artistically speaking in his painting technique and his conceptual ideas but also on a personal level with his strong work ethic, dedication and sense of humour.



The materials used for this piece are oil on wood panel. Nicole has playfully depicted her muse with two of his favourite things - a pigeon and some Bunning's sausages. She explains, "I chose to depict him with these in an aim to create a bit of a bizarre scene and convey his cheeky sense of humour."

Contemporary figurative artist Robyn Grove has chosen Japanese artist Jun Inoue as her muse and uses Michael Harding oil paints and mediums in this piece. Robyn has had a long-standing love affair with Japan, as many things about the culture inspire her, particularly calligraphy and ikebana. Furthermore the Japanese arts influence Robyn's own work including her use of decorative patterned backgrounds.



In this exhibition, Robyn's piece is a tribute to Jun Inoue, a street artist but who also paints murals at live paint events and creates images for bespoke fashion labels.

His artwork inspires Robyn in many ways. She explains further, "As an artist, Jun bridges the old and the new – the traditional values and arts of Japan mixed with street art and graffiti movements. His works have an incredible fluidity, with brushstrokes that speak of his calligraphy roots; only he paints with mops and huge brushes, paint pens and water spray. I've seen many of Jun's works displayed here in Melbourne and have witnessed his incredible live painting nights. When Jun paints, he stands before a huge white canvas, music pumping. He meditates on the canvas and starts to move in sync with the beat. He begins to create his brushstrokes in the air, then moves to the canvas and commits them in ink. It's highly contemplative and peaceful, but at the same time fast and powerful. I've never seen anyone paint with such intensity and beauty."

Robyn appreciates the formality and the beauty of Japanese art which looks so natural and spontaneous even though it's actually produced from deep contemplation and meditation, and has combined these qualities in her portrait of Jun - he's still and dignified, honest and open, while the contrasting background references his dynamic and fluid style of mural painting.



Ha Ha, aka Regan Tamanui, is a self-taught street artist, known for his multi-layered stencils and pop culture iconography. He has chosen another well-known street artist, Matt Adnate, as his muse. Describing the inspiration behind this work, Ha Ha explains, "Matt Adnate has made a significant contribution to street art in Australia and around the world. His recent mural canvassing the entire height of the Collingwood commission flats on Wellington Street marks the largest mural worldwide and has had such a positive effect on the residents of this flat. So this portrait is in honour of Matt's contribution to his community plus I thought it would be great to do a portrait of Matt as I haven't seen anyone do a portrait of him."



Artist Melissa Grisancich, who was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, has chosen Melbourne painter Carla Mcrae as her muse. She says, "I enjoy the simplicity and warmth in Carla's paintings. They often radiate elements of joy, simplicity, nature and energetic colours."



Fine art and mural artist Jason Parker has chosen to paint Christian Vine, a fellow Melbourne based artist. Jason generally starts with an idea for a painting then selects a friend or an acquaintance that has the right look and feel. He says he has chosen Christian as his muse for this piece because "The way Christians creative brain works is great and I just thought he would be a perfect fit for this image"

The full list of talented artists involved in this group exhibition includes:

Tom Gerrard
Goodie
Jason Parker
Chuck Mayfield
DNART
Melissa Grisancich
Robyn Grove
David Lee Pereira
[LINK=https://www.jenniferallnutt.com/]Jenny Allnutt
[/LINK]
[LINK=https://emilyjaneillustration.bigcartel.com/]
Emily Wright[/LINK]
Charlotte Ivey
Grace Taylor
Hilary Green
Tayla Broekman
Ha Ha
Kit Bennett
Shawn Lu
Jack Fran
Lucy Lucy
Isolde
Liz Gridley
Nicole Evans
Trudi Harley
Michelle Pereira
[LINK=https://www.ryanpola.com/]
Ryan Pola[/LINK]
Mitchell Asquith
Tao Lee

A Portrait of a Painter will commence at Off the Kerb Gallery on 7th February 2019 and will run until 21st February 2019. It will be shown in the Front and Back Galleries.

Opening night is on Friday 8th February 2019, from 6pm - 9pm.

While you are there, you can also check out the following exhibitions:



[LINK=http://www.offthekerb.com.au/]
Off the Kerb Gallery[/LINK] is located at 66B Johnston Street Collingwood. The Gallery is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 12.30pm - 6pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 noon - 5pm.
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#art
#collingwood
#exhibitions
#free
#galleries
#indoor
#north_east
#february
!date 07/02/2019 -- 21/02/2019
%wnmelbourne