ORIENTing: Ian Fairweather in Perth, Australia
When
04 May 2013 -
13 July 2013
Location
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery
The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy (cnr Fairway) Crawley, Perth Western Australia 6009
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 5pm
ORIENTing is an exhibition in two parts, each exploring a different aspect of artistic engagement with Asia.
ORIENTing: Ian Fairweather in Western Australian Collections gathers together for the first time a series of significant early works by Fairweather in Western Australian collections, focusing on the influence of Asian art and culture on the artist’s practice. A major artist of the twentieth century, Fairweather was Scottish born, though spent periods of his life in China, Bali, the Philippines, India and Australia. He was particularly fascinated by Chinese culture and this is reflected in the subject matter and style of his works, which indicate a strong fascination with calligraphy. The exhibition focuses on Fairweather’s early paintings from the 1930s and 1940s, which recall his experiences of travel.
ORIENTing: With or Without You is an exhibition of contemporary art by Australian artists which touches on similar themes, considering the significance of place, identity and landscape in a variety of art forms. Artists include Newell Harry, Tom Nicholson, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Roy Wiggan, Tintin Wulia, and John Young. While some artists respond directly to Ian Fairweather’s paintings, others reflect on the broader themes of cross-cultural engagement and interaction.
The exhibitions enable us to look at the past to provide an understanding of the present, and also to act as a lens onto the future by exploring our cultural relationship to our geographic region over a broad time span.
Additionally, in June 2013 the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery will launch a companion book including full-colour plates of all the works together with essays written by leading scholars and authors.
Curators
