Much as I'd like to, I don't have time to write full posts on the three "events" I'm writing about today, but I do want to at least document them. I don't, in fact, document every film, show or exhibition I attend but I have particular reasons, which will hopefully become obvious, for wanting to … Continue reading My literary week (12), some art, a film, and an unseen play
Exhibitions
Monday musings on Australian literature: Pulp fiction, 1940s to 1970s
This post was inspired by the Pulp Fiction exhibition* at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery that ran from August to October this year. The exhibition used materials from two collectors, Graeme Flanagan (d. 2015) and James Doig, who also wrote the accompanying booklet. Doig says that Flanagan "amassed one of the most significant collections of … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Pulp fiction, 1940s to 1970s
My literary week (10), Non-fiction November and Lady Chatterley
I had hoped to finish my current book by this weekend, but it's been a busy week with a two-day trip away, an exhibition launch, and a Friends' of the NFSA event, on top of usual commitments. However, I do have some "literary" bits and pieces to share. I'll start with the one that isn't … Continue reading My literary week (10), Non-fiction November and Lady Chatterley
David Hockney at the National Gallery of Victoria
It's a while since I wrote about an art exhibition, not because I haven't been to any but because this is a litblog (and I'm even less of an art critic than I am a literary one). However, I did feel the urge to write about the David Hockney Current exhibition, which is now showing at Melbourne's National Gallery of … Continue reading David Hockney at the National Gallery of Victoria
My encounter with Encounters
I rarely write about museum exhibitions, and when I do it's usually in the context of a travel post, but I do want to share with you our National Museum of Australia's current exhibition, Encounters. Subtitled "Revealing stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum", it is described by the Museum as "one … Continue reading My encounter with Encounters
Art meets Literature at In the Flesh
I'm pushing it really with my heading, as for many the literary aspect of the National Portrait Gallery's In the Flesh exhibition would be a passingly noticed sideline, but for me it added significantly to my enjoyment. It helped of course that I found the following in the first room: It is not time or opportunity … Continue reading Art meets Literature at In the Flesh
Russell Drysdale at Tarra Warra
If you'd asked me to name an Australian artist when I was young, two names would have popped into my head - Russell Drysdale and the indigenous artist Albert Namatjira. As I grew up, other names came to the fore, such as William Dobell, Sidney Nolan, Margaret Olley, Margaret Preston, Jeffrey Smart, and Brett Whiteley, not to mention … Continue reading Russell Drysdale at Tarra Warra
unDISCLOSED, the second national indigenous art triennial
Indigenous Australian art has, over the last few decades, become big business in Australia and overseas, and for good reason. It is unique and it is beautiful. Most Australians, I suspect, only know of the "traditional" dot painting style of the Central Australian Desert and perhaps the wood carvings of the Torres Strait Islands. However, … Continue reading unDISCLOSED, the second national indigenous art triennial
Post-impressionism redux
It was almost 30 years ago to the day that I attended my first exhibition of post-impressionist art. That was in London: it was Post-Impressionism at the Royal Academy of Arts, 1979-80, and we went on March 9, 1980, the last day of my first European trip. Last night, March 4, 2010, we went to … Continue reading Post-impressionism redux
Whispering Gums 