My Tassie trip and the likelihood of a return there in the reasonably near future has made me think a lot about the sort of artist I would really prefer to be.
What is for sale in Salamanca Place galleries which I hope is indicative as what actually sells was quite interesting. I accept that selling to MONA is not yet an option.
It seems that the spirit of Jack Carington Smith who ran the Hobart Art School in the 50's-70's would still important in so much of the art which is sold in Salamanca.In terms of "known" artists Max Angus is perhaps the best example of direct link with Jack's water colour landscapes probably his most prolific days are behind him. But I was interested that Geoff Dyer's works now seem to me to be very much in the spirit of Jack's works and I suspect teaching...I am somewhat intrigued how much Geoff's recent gouache works seem to be in the Tasmanian water colour tradition, but perhaps this is just me being able to at last to see past my previous interactions with Geoff. Of course, Geoff and Jack also share the honour of winning an Archibald Prize, 2004 and 1963.
Dr Sue Henderson's works (head of drawing UTas Launceston) in so many ways, at least when the Gorge is her subject matter, similarly seem to be very much in this tradition even if Sue also spends a great deal of her time in more "modern" art practice.
The coffee table book "Tasmania a visual journey" featuring the work of 12 photographers, which I bought in the Stanley gallery of David Murphy, one of the photographers could be seen as explaining why this tradition of landscape arting is still so strong in Tasmania.
But even I realize one should not only look at Tasmanian artists. One artist I came across on the web yesterday, Haixia Liu perhaps an artist whose work, particularly his streetscapes of Italian towns and cities, I absolutely adore...and I could imagine him being a bit of a hit in Salamanca.
That is a long enough post pour le moment.
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