ROBERT OWEN: FALLEN LIGHT 2012 - paintings
13 November - 15 December 2012
Opening: Saturday 17th November, 4-6pm
ARC ONE Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of a new series of paintings by Robert Owen – Fallen Light.
In Fallen Light, the vertical black fields of the portrait abstract paintings—titled Soundings—are intersected by refracted light in yellow, pink, blue, grey, green and brown. Like composed musical notes the colours dance across the canvas. As the light resonates through space, the paintings capture the transition and encounter of the two separate spheres of pure light and pure darkness. The canvas acts as a mediator for references, experiences and transitions—where sensation, colour and movement, interact and come into being.
Owen’s artistic practice approaches the idea of abstraction as an experimentation and artistic examination of the properties and possibilities of ideas and objects. His artwork captures and illustrates distinct natural forces that may not be visible to the human eye. These connections and coexistences—between the physical and metaphysical—are formally expressed as transitions that unite and simultaneously disperse.
As one of Australia’s most highly respected artists, Owen’s practice spans over forty years and includes sculpture, installation, painting, photography and major public commissions.
Owen represented Australia at the 38th Venice Biennale, 1978; was awarded the Australian Council Visual Arts: Crafts Emeritus Award for lifelong service to the visual arts, 2003; and the John Moore’s Liverpool Exhibition 7 UK Prize, 1969. Group exhibitions include: Photographic Abstractions, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, 2012; Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2008; New Acquisition in Context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2005; A History of Happiness, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2002; Geometric Abstraction in Australia 1941-1997, University Art Museum, University of Queensland, 1997; Spirit and Place: Art in Australia 1861-1996, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1996-7. Solo exhibitions include: Inside and Out, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, 2007; Different Lights Cast Different Shadows, The 2nd Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2004; The Text of Light, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 2004; Between Shadow and Light – London Works 1966-1975, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne, 1999. Selected collections include: British Museum, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Olympic Sculpture Park, Korea. Selected public commissions include: Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Harry Seidler Building, Sydney; Triptych Development, Southbank, Melbourne; and Webb Bridge, Docklands Melbourne.