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» Go to "ART TEACHER STORMS LOCAL SCENE" review
» Go to "WELL WORTH A VISIT" review
"BREAKING NEW GROUND" 30th October 2004
Kalamunda artist Godfrey Blow is the only Australian artist to have his art work exhibited at the 2004
Liverpool Biennale.
His work hangs alongside that of other Stuckist artists at the Stuckists Punk Victorian exhibition at the
National Museum's Walker Gallery.
Stuckism is a radial art form movement, founded in London in 1999 to advance new figurative painting with
ideas as the most vital artistic means of addressing contemporary issues.
Mr Blow, who is a founding member of the Stuckist Movement in Australia said an opportunity to hang
his work at the group exhibition was very satisfying.
He has held many solo exhibitions and his work is held by several major and regional galleries,
principally in WA.
"My most recent work is concerned with exploring symbols derived from natural forms that give an insight
into the nature of existence," he said. "Although spiritual in nature, my work is not religious, but seeks to understand the world in a
meaningful way."
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"FIRE'S ON" 6th - 27th February 2003 at THE STAFFORD STUDIOS
Reviewed by Judith McGrath
Fire is intrinsic to Australian culture, both in the bush and in
the backyard. From wild fire to hearth fire we are all attracted to the
flame. In response to the Perth International Arts Festival's theme of
'fire', these well respected artists display their own fascination with,
and ability to control, fire in art if not in nature.
Woodward approaches the fire in its more comforting stages; as a
controlled campfire or after its fury has been spent. Her mixed media drawings
of women either sleeping near or keeping a watchful eye on a small fire
dispels fear while reminding us we shouldn't turn our backs on the flame.
The
Escape of the Young Wombat describes in oil a 'slow burn' with
its hot oranges, flashes of flame and black broken trees. A threat yes,
but there is time and a path for the wild life to escape and survive.
Blow relates to the sun's fire; how it awakens a suburban street
or finds its way to the forest floor. A muted light filters through all
these intriguing landscapes in oil. The Rising of the Sun and the Drawing
Down of the Moon depicts an illuminated morning sky at the left and
the darkening evening on the right. Between dawn and dusk we discover suggestions
of a face or a hand formed by the tangled growth of a landscape articulated
by short brushstrokes in mid tone hues.
Boissevain's images of wild fire are all about laying oil paint down
on the board. His fire is a collection of bright orange splashes amid the
green, burnt trees are calligraphic marks quickly sketched in black with
a thin brush, and smoke is a cross directional dance of square brush work
in white and blue. All these painterly aspects are brought together in
the pictorial accuracy of Wild Fire.
Darby too respects the attributes of the media oil and acrylic to
depict bush fire with verisimilitude. His aerial view of Fire Line
shows a path of flame across the middle of the canvas. The upper half reveals
rich earth ochre dotted with eucalyptus green while the 'burnt out' lower
section glows with textural iridescent 'ash'. There is beauty to be found
before and after the burn.
Sher identifies Fire as one of the four elements in nature: making
its mark on Earth, fed by Air, quenched by Water. His oil on paper images
abstract nature into areas of high key colour that differentiate sky, smoke,
land, river and flame. Rain, Dust and Fire sees the blaze sweep
along a high horizon, illuminating the world before it in rich hues while
concealing its regenerative processes under a cloak of smoke and blackness.
Mitchell concentrates on fire 'power' behind the scene in his oil
paintings. Obscured by cool white glass doors, anonymous grey-suited men
form small groups. In the safety of their air-cooled offices they define
and control the strategy that will fight or light the flame others must
face. More chilling is how in Suits 3 a corner of a video screen
shows the image of an aircraft carrier, fire power to the max.
Greenaway controls the fire of the kiln to produce excellent porcelain
bowls glazed with soft green, yellow, orange or red. These works are beautifully
turned with some elegantly scored or banded to augment the perfect shapes.
Porcelain
is translucent allowing light to add another aspect of appreciation. Meanwhile
the matt black Bucchero forms serve as excellent counterpoints to the gentle
coloured pieces.
This is an exhibition of excellence, one that should be seen.
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25
April - 13 May, 2001 at THE CHURCH GALLERY
Reviewed by Judith McGrath
The cycle of life and death, the idea
of regeneration, the connectiveness of
nature, the. body and the spirit, all
these individually held and communally
accepted concepts can be detected in these
works. As such, Blow touches some part
of our intellect or emotion with his highly
complex imagery.
It's difficult to get a grounding in
these paintings; we seem to travel from
the rich dark realms of the troglodyte
to the light bright hues of angels. It's
Just as well, we should let go and float
from one idea to another as we travel
through each composition, We should discard
set ideologies and parameters and view
the works as intriguing free associations
that do i ndeed make sense.
For example, Connections is presented
as ten painted panels hung more like an
installation then a wall matting. In this
grouping we find suggestions of rocks,
plants, animals, seed pods and unidentifiable
forms reaching from one surface to another
without severing ties across the void.
These half recognizable and unique life-forms
grow from the head of one man who has
eyes that look like spheres floating in
space. The composition clearly alludes
to the concept of a universality of all
living entities, even if they exist on
separate planes of reality. A very thought
provoking work.
So too are all the exhibits. As soon
as you think you have a handle on one
idea, other interpretations begin to collect
along the edges of the mind. When you
exhaust yourself with attempting to figure
it out just stop and enjoy the surface
of the painting. Blow lays down the oil
medium in short strokes with a small brush.
Like the seconds of a clock tick, ticking
into hours then days, we realize how these
small strokes of colour build up volume
and space, shapes and ideas. All colours
are employed with attention to their tonal
weight to offer yet another, rhythmic
layer of interest to these images.
The artist works well in both the small
and large format. There is no loss of
potency in the smallest work and no defusing
of detail in the larger ones. This can
be noted in Light to Dark 3 where we view
an idyllic background landscape through
a line of distorted foreground trees.
The first and second images of this series
are smaller yet each holds an equal sense
of the surreal.
There is a certain spirituality drifting
through Blow's images if you discover
it, despite some of the tortured forms,
you'll find the exhibition is an uplifting
experience.
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Art teacher storms local scene
Sunday Times 1984 by Julie Prott
Godfrey Blow is another English artist who is trying to take the local scene by storm.
True to British tradition, he paints with fortitude and persistence. There are no less than 50 large and
small paintings on display at the Undercroft Gallery in his latest one-man show. All are meticulously
executed and based on landscape, using the descriptive approach which is peculiar to English
metaphysical realism.
His realism is not equated at all with nature. In fact, the world of Dr Who, or that of the gothic monsters created
by M. C. Escher comes to mind. The landscapes, people and animals which inhabit this epic fantasy appear to have been
the model to which the Pinnacles at Cervantes ever aspire.
Despite the artist's control of depth-perception and his technical excursions which help elaborate this world he has
great talent as a colourist. This accounts for the memorable images in such works as The Last Supper.
He is an art teacher at Cyril Jackson High School and has produced a promising show. His style compares well again
that of the local English heavy-weights, John Bears and Nigel Helyer.
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Esoteric but well worth a visit
Hampstead & Highgate Expresss 1976 - ART by Douglas Priestley
With an art education received at Sheffield Art College, and Manchester Polytechnic, Godfrey Blow is an artist
from whom we would be led to expect work of some import. At his exhibition at the Old Bull Community and Arts Centre,
High Street, Barnet, that is exactly what he gives us.
Now an art teacher, he is exhibiting some 62 works in varying media - oils, acrylic, collage, pencil and crayon.
There is no doubt (as the catalogue informs one) that he is very preoccupied with landscape and organic forms and
their relationship to man-made things.
Powerful
His style is a very esoteric matter; his unique manner of portrayal of subject either "raises static" in the viewer, or
it does not. There can be no half-way house. It is a matter of "wavelength": of subconscious empathy with which the
viewer connects, or he doesn't. I did - with most of the works.
The collages, I must confess, I did not get anything from. In fact, I consider them to be somewhat trite and, in many
cases, pointless.
But quite a number of his large landscapes I found very powerful; and several quite awe-inspiring. This artist has a most
curious style; indeed, a style which one would have thought would alienate the viewer as much as the technique is
patently an alienation of subject form and conformation.
And yet it is a curious fact that many of the works have a strange drawing, compelling quality which (annoyingly) I cannot
quite analyse.
For example, there is one acrylic painting called "Blue Lake" which, I am sure, everybody has seen sometime in a dream. I
certainly have - which is what I meant by empathy. It is a startingly taut almost other-worldly work which still haunts me. A
very curious phenomenon - and certainly a very successful work of art to have such an effect.
There are many other works to be seen which will - I am certain - evoke similar responses from as many other people. The whole
exhibition represents a most unusual experience. But I would stress that is is not everybody's "cup of tea". It is far
from normal representational painting as Henry Moore's sculpture is from the human form.
I am not comparing Moore's work with that of Godfrey Blow (and I am sure that Mr. Blow will appreciate that); but am suggesting
that the sculpt landscaped forms of Moore have a kinship with the painting of landscape by the artist under review. And
Heaven knows, Moore's work - even today - is not appreciated by everyone. Not that that is any criterion.
After all, Constable was not recognised for years; and the sculpture of Jacob Epstein was not only denigrated but daubed
with paint by the type of Philistines who now turn their attention to public seats and conveniences.
But I wander. Godfrey Blow's work at the Old Bull is well worth a visit. Many will get a similar thrill and
wonderment that I obtained; others, I am sure, will leave with a different kind of wonder - as to what it is all about.
As I have underlined above, it's all a matter of whether or not wavelengths gell. But do go; you might find yourself
"tuned in", and if you do, then you will enjoy your visit.
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