Australia, Art and About: David Bromley, Matthew Johnson, Marnie Wark

10 Chancery Lane Gallery of Hong Kong in Collaboration with Tim Olsen Gallery of Sydney is proud to present three great Australian Artists June 16 - July 15 2005 for an Australia – Art & About organised in conjunction with the Australian Trade Commission Hong Kong

 

"The main focus of my work is the journey that we go on physically and emotionally. I play this out often in the adolescent world where I feel the magnitude of what life holds for us and demands from us is at its most potent.”
David Bromley

David Bromley paints every day and remains thankful of his creative gift. He is admired for his dramatic use of acrylic paint and the rich texture he builds into his figurative work. Through his nostalgic "Boys Own Annual" 1930s subject matter - from pirates to lighthouses, boats to running races and boxing matches - Bromley dips into our childhood memories, conjuring up emotions and moments from our past.

 

Johnson's pigmented surfaces demonstrate a delight in the application and layering of paint. His studio is full of precious pigments that recall the work of Japanese nihonga- style painters who are trained in traditional methods of mixing rare pigments. Often made from natural materials such as shell, nihongo-style painters mix pigments that glisten with different textures Johnson uses the iridescent pigment iriodin which is made from sand to imbue the canvases with an effervescent glow.

In the series Ambrosial light, an intimate scale is enhanced by a tranquil palette. The fragility and delicacy of the fine grid is overlaid with pastel colours from sumptuous lilacs to misty blues. Like wafts of clouds, these smaller paintings seem hazy as colour is distilled into harmonious pools of light. The saturated and bleached light of Australian conditions imbues these works with a silken, atmospheric quality. Nathalie King, extract from 'Conversation with the artist', Exhibition Catalogue, March, 2000

 

Wark was raised in the countryside of South Australia, surrounded by the ever-changing colours and shapes of the soft rolling Barossa hills, a great source of inspiration.
Her paintings are bold psychological snapshots, some vivid and some are blurred, all painted completely intuitively. Great importance is placed on the tension between line and shape, form and content, simplicity and vibrancy, resulting in a never-ending exploration of the spirit of space. Born in 1975, Melbourne. Lives and works in Adelaide.