On Friday night we had a wonderful turn up of new and old faces at the opening of Lynne’s show ROCKET. The pink and white fringed installation was discussed as one of the working methodologies she engages with (different fabrics and materials) as a way to expand the possibilities she finds in paint. Also the idea of nurturing and sharing, conceptual concerns explored in Lynne’s work was embraced both visually and physically. We even had theatre artists engage with it as a kind of curtain from which to play out impromptu dialogue. Lots of fun and although Lynne wasn’t able to fly the distance (NY/AUS) we felt she was with us.
The exhibition will be on display throughout November.
For more information on Lynne’s work here is an excerpt from an interview carried out with Lynne in 2015 for Tarn McLean’s PhD thesis Grubby Mistakes and Beautiful Propositions: The shift of Painting out as a way to look back in
In an interview with Harlow for this research she discusses her works exist beyond the picture frame and explore colour and material through a reduced aesthetic:
I choose to think about painting as a means of generating a visual and physical experience that is rooted in the traditional two-dimensional surface but expands beyond it. This expansion, this departure from Greenberg’s autonomous art object and progression beyond Fried’s concern with theatricality, aims to place painting in dialogue with spatial experience, sound and performance. My work is grounded in art historical awareness. Limitless and Lonesome, an installation I first presented in 2005, is an example of my acknowledgement of historical movements (color field and geometric abstraction) as I explore the intersection of color and music using my specific approach and vocabulary.
Harlow’s artworks are responses to multiple working conditions such as site-specific locations and the resulting spatial arrangements, or her responsive engagement with fabric or Plexiglas. She continues to discuss that while these outcomes are receptive to specific working conditions, they are ultimately derived from the conceptual investigations initially derived from the working space of the picture frame:
There’s no hierarchy among these works. They all address the same questions, interests and concerns. I love being able to move between different media to explore ideas and allow varied materials, spatial arrangements and movement to inform my approach to painted works. I guess what’s most significant is the conversation that’s generated between my different ways of working, the ways in which my engagement with fabric or Plexiglas expands the possibilities I find in paint.
RAYGUN 