Three beautiful compositions from Robert Owen's series 'Soundings' will be on display in Systems and Structures, TarraWarra's latest exhibition, which opens tomorrow.
Systems and Structures features Owen alongside Robert Hunter, Clement Meadmore, Howard Arkley, Lesley Dumbrell, Mark Galea, Robert Jacks, Callum Morton, John Nixon, to showcase artists who employ patterns, geometry, modules and repetition as key elements in their creative process.
Systems and Structures
📅 23 March - 14 July 2024
📍TarraWarra Museum of Art
JOHN YOUNG & ROBERT OWEN feature in CHROMA Exhibition at Murdoch University Art Gallery
JOHN YOUNG and ROBERT OWEN feature in the current exhibition CHROMA which opened at Murdoch University Art Gallery over the weekend.
Taking its name from the Greek word chrôma, which refers to the purity, intensity or saturation of a colour. The exhibition features a selection of vibrant contemporary artworks from the Murdoch University Art Collection, which all explore colour in very different ways.
IMAGE 1: Robert Owen, Witness, Facing East #1 (Chant from a Holy Book), 2005 - 2006, From the series Music for the Eyes, Synthetic polymer paint on linen, Seven panels, 122 x 122cm each, 122 x 855cm overall.
IMAGE 2: John Young, Spectrumfigure XIV, 2018, oil paint on Belgian linen, 190cm x 150cm.
Installation images courtesy of Murdoch University Art Gallery.
Photographed by Eva Fernandez.
MURRAY FREDERICKS & ROBERT OWEN IN BELLE MAGAZINE SHOOT
Artworks: Murray Fredericks, Salt 154, 2009, pigment print on cotton rag, 120 x 150cm, edition of 7; Robert Owen, Model for Silence #4, 2019, painted steel, 68.5 x 60 x 48.5 cm, edition of 3
MURRAY FREDERICKS & ROBERT OWEN have works featured in this magnificent shoot in the October issue of Belle Magazine.
Architecture & interiors of this Toorak residence were designed by ADDARC, with art curation & styling by Swee Design, and photography by @shannonmcgrath7.
Pick up the latest edition of Belle Magazine to see more.
VENICE BIENNALE BOOK FEATURES ARC ONE ARTISTS
Australia at the Venice Biennale: A Century of Contemporary Art by Kerry Gardner, hardcover 311mm x 251mm
Australia at the Venice Biennale: A Century of Contemporary Art is a new book by Kerry Gardner AM, published by MUP.
This splendidly produced book is the first comprehensive account of Australia’s history at the Venice Biennale, with an invaluable appendix that lists and illustrates many of this country's exhibits.
ARC ONE artists ROBERT OWEN & JOHN DAVIS are featured in the book, having both represented Australia at the pavilion in 1978, and CHARLES GREEN has contributed an exemplary essay among other significant Australian writers.
This richly illustrated publication illuminates the untold stories and origins of the most important event of the art world through one hundred years of Australian modern art.
Australia at the Venice Biennale is available to purchase online here >
MORNING TEA WITH ROBERT OWEN AT HEIDE
Join ROBERT OWEN for an intimate tour of his exhibition Blue Over Time at Heide tomorrow, followed by a delicious morning tea at Heide Café with the artist and his studio manager, Angela Connor.
Robert will share stories and insights into his journey as an artist. Museum admission, tour, and morning tea included!
ROBERT OWEN RETROSPECTIVE AT HEIDE EXTENDED
Emerging first in the 1960s, Robert Owen is one of Australia’s most eminent artists. His art traverses an ambitious and far-reaching range of mediums and contexts, from painting, sculpture, photography and installation, to public art and architectural commissions. Grounded in geometry and abstraction, his visually stunning works are inspired by his diverse interests—encompassing philosophy and psychology, science and mathematics, music and literature—and reflect his life-long curiosity about the world. Owen’s approach is underpinned by a poetic and intuitive exploration of the expressive potential of space, light, colour, context and materials.
The first museum survey of Owen’s practice for twenty years in Melbourne, this exhibition will encompass his work from the 1960s and 1970s living in Greece and London, while also featuring new and more recent paintings and sculptural installations.
ROBERT OWEN INTERVIEWED ON ART GUIDE PODCAST
ROBERT OWEN is the subject of the fourth episode of Art Guide’s podcast series The Long Run, now streaming. In the episode, Robert talks with host Tiarney Miekus about what it means to create over six decades, and what he feels is the truth of his art: a sense of oneness.
Listen to the podcast here >
Robert Owen's survey show, Blue Over Time, is currently on display at Heide Museum of Modern Art, closing 23 May.
ROBERT OWEN BOOK TALK
This afternoon Heide will host a book talk with ROBERT OWEN, his studio manager and book editor Angela Connor, and book designers Stuart Geddes and Paul Mylecharane. The panel will discuss the journey of producing Robert Owen – A Book of Encounters, the first major monograph of one of Australia’s most eminent artists. The talk will be facilitated by Dan Rule, director of Perimeter Books.
Tickets to this event include museum entry and a glass of wine. It’s set to be a rainy afternoon: great museum weather! Reserve your spot at the book talk now and enjoy an afternoon at Heide with a tipple afterwards!
Book here >
Robert Owen with his monograph, photographed by Jake Roden.
ROBERT OWEN INTRODUCES 'WORDS OF LOVE' FILM
Tomorrow Saturday 24 April at 3pm, Heide x Cinema Nova will be presenting Marianne & Leonard, Words of Love to celebrate the exhibition Robert Owen: Blue Over Time – A Survey, with an introduction by the artist. Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a documentary film about the relationship between Marianne and Leonard, and their time spent on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1963, Robert Owen set off on a Greek boat for London. Along the way, he stopped off on Hydra intending to only stay a night. Unbeknownst to him, Hydra was a haven for bohemian expatriates, including George Johnston, Charmian Clift, William Lederer, Jack Hirschman and Leonard Cohen.
For three years (1963 – 66) Robert lived and worked on the island, making musical instruments and artworks, writing poetry and selling jewellery to tourists in the summer. It was also on Hydra that two events occurred that would change the course of Robert’s arts practice: an eclipse of the sun over the Peloponnese and the discovery of a Maggi soup cube wrapper.
More information >
ROBERT OWEN INTERVIEWED IN SPECTRUM
ROBERT OWEN is interviewed in The Age’s Spectrum today!
Ray Edgar speaks to Robert about some of his career highlights, including heading the sculpture department at RMIT, representing Australia at the Venice Biennale, and his recognisable architectural commissions such as the Webb Bridge at Docklands and the Craigieburn Bypass over the Hume. The two also discuss Robert's time as a ‘boho expat’ on the Greek island of Hydra in the 60s, his mentorship by Leonard Cohen and his study of Buddhism, alchemy and theoretical physics.
Edgar writes: “Witnessing a natural phenomenon in Hydra had a...profound impact: an eclipse of the sun creating a spectacular spectrum. Beguiled from that moment, Owen sought to recreate its numinous light. “I wanted the spectrum,” Owen declares. “that’s the colour I wanted to see. I was interested in this inner self, that’s the soul inside, that’s full of light”.
Edgar also looks into the breadth of the 70 works now showing in Owen’s retrospective at HEIDE and speaks to curator Sue Cramer.
ROBERT OWEN FEATURED IN ART COLLECTOR
Image: Art Collector Magazine issue 95.
ROBERT OWEN is featured in the latest issue of Art Collector Magazine.
Jacqueline Millner writes about the the artist's forthcoming survey exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art, 'Blue Over Time: Robert Owen - A Survey'.
'The Heide survey's title underlines the importance of the colour blue in Owen's practice, with its evocation of infinite space and the possibility of dimensions beyond those we currently know. In Owen's work, blue occupies that place between earthly and otherworldly realms, embodying the reverie and imagination that the artist hopes his art will also spark, along with the capacity to patch and heal what has been fractured. Owen inflects the materiality of colour, light and place through the beauty of mathematics, having some time ago observed that "geometry is a good way to find yourself through a crisis" (a sentiment all too pertinent today)', writes Millner.
'Blue Over Time: Robert Owen - A Survey, curated by Sue Cramer, shows at Heide Museum of Modern Art from 27 February to 23 May 2021.
ROBERT OWEN – A BOOK OF ENCOUNTERS
Introducing Robert Owen – A Book of Encounters – the first major monograph on one of Australia’s most eminent artists. Made in close collaboration with Owen and his studio, this extensive volume assumes at once poetic, critical, historical and biographical modes in its unpacking of six decades of the artist’s archives, offering a comprehensive insight into a figure who has stood at the forefront of contemporary art since the 1960s.
Robert Owen – A Book of Encounters is published to coincide with the survey exhibition Blue Over Time: Robert Owen – A Survey at Heide from February 27 to May 23, 2021.
The book not only examines Owen’s nomadic practice – spanning sculpture, painting, photography and installation – but traces through-lines from his early life in the regional Australian town of Wagga Wagga to Sydney, the Greek island of Hydra, London and Melbourne. In doing so, A Book of Encounters expands into Owen’s wider interests in philosophy, psychology, science, mathematics, music and literature.
The book features essays and texts from some of Australia’s leading writers, curators and artists, including Carolyn Barnes, Sue Cramer, Victoria Lynn, Pippa Milne, Robert Nelson, Alex Selenitsch, Mike Parr, Leslie and Miriam Stein, and Angela Connor.
Published by Perimeter Books and designed by Public Office, the book is available for pre-order here!
Images: ‘Robert Owen - A Book of Encounters’, designed by Stuart Geddes, Paul Mylecharane and Kim Mumm Hansen of public.office. 400 pages, 23.7 x 16.9 cm, leather softcover with OTA bind, Perimeter Editions (Melbourne).
ROBERT OWEN DONATES WORK TO FUNDRAISER FOR BARPIRDHILA
ROBERT OWEN has donated this work to Modernisters For Barpirdhila - an online art sale commencing this evening raising money for the Barpirdhila Foundation, an Aboriginal-controlled not-for-profit organisation that develops, nurtures and supports Aboriginal Excellence within the arts and music sectors.
@modernistersfor is an instagram account created by Dean Keep and Jeromie Maver as a platform to raise awareness and funds for important issues in our community. Their latest drive is ‘ARTfair: Modernisters for Barpirdhila’, which asks a selection of contemporary artists to donate a postcard sized artwork. The postcard may be understood as an important means of bridging distance, fusing art and text to convey stories about our experience of place.
This work by Owen is from the series ‘Spent Light’ consisting of paintings and sculpture recycling all the masking tape he uses in the studio. Follow @modernistersfor to stay updated on this online art fair!
Robert Owen, ‘Binocular #3’ from the series Spent Light, 2020, acrylic paint, card, tape, 14.6 x 20.5 cm
MGA 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CATALOGUE
'VIEW FINDING Monash Gallery of Art 1990—2020', designed by Pidgeon Ward.
The MGA recently launched a landmark 30 year anniversary publication - VIEW FINDING Monash Gallery of Art 1990—2020.
This fully illustrated catalogue features image plates by ARC ONE artists Pat Brassington, Lyndell Brown & Charles Green, Rose Farrell & George Parkin, Robert Owen, Jacky Redgate, Julie Rrap, Lydia Wegner and Anne Zahalka. It charts the history of the gallery, its present, and the future of photography in Australia.
Over the last 30 years MGA has developed one of Australia’s most important cultural assets — the only public collection solely dedicated to Australian photography. MGA’s artistic program has explored the diversity of photographic practice in Australia, and has placed Australian photographers and photography within a global context. 'View Finding' looks at the past, present and future of photography in Australia, presenting moments that have defined MGA, its collection and exhibition history.
A selection of leading lights who specialise in photography in Australia have contributed essays to the publication. You can purchase it here.
ROBERT OWEN
Robert Owen, Endings (Kodachrome 64, No.00, 22/07/1992), 2009, archival print on 310gms Carsons BSK Reeves Paper, 104 x 72.5 cm
Serial has recently opened at McClelland Sculpture Park+Gallery. This exhibition explores the significance of the series in contemporary artistic practice, and features work from their permanent collection, including one of ROBERT OWEN's Endings prints.
Robert Nelson, art critic for The Age, writes of this series:
"Robert Owen’s Endings look like bright abstract landscapes. They are in fact prints made from film stubs that Robert collected from 1968 to the 90s, when film began to come to an end for the bulk of photography. But Robert kept them, because each one always marked an end. What would happen when you shine photographic light through the end rather than the middle?...The Endings are a portrait of a photograph beyond the last photograph; and strangely this seems to presage the end of photography while simply representing the end of the photosensitive celluloid.”
The exhibition continues until 10 November.
ROBERT OWEN
Image: Robert Owen, Sutra 4 (from the Tracing Light series), 2019, polished stainless steel, 651 x 451 x 421 cm. Photo: John Gollings.
Robert Owen has recently completed Sutra 4 - a privately commissioned large-scale work.
Sutra 4 is a sculpture based on the geometry of the hypercube, a mathematical concept referring to the fourth dimension. The work reconstructs Euclidian geometry through an intuitive play with space and light to reveal a new structural space with a relationship to the organic and the poetic.
ROBERT OWEN
Robert Owen, Melbourne Modern: European Art & Design at RMIT since 1945 installation view, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2019.
ROBERT OWEN spoke yesterday at A Bauhaus Impact at RMIT at RMIT Gallery, as part of the public programs for Melbourne Modern: European Art & Design at RMIT since 1945.
To mark the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus school of art and design in Germany, curators Jane Eckett and Harriet Edquist, and artists Emily Floyd, and Robert Owen will be considering the extent to which Bauhaus principles impacted the teaching of art, architecture and design at RMIT.Robert Owen, 'Melbourne Modern: European Art & Design at RMIT since 1945' installation view, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, 2019.
JOHN DAVIS | ROBERT OWEN
Robert Owen, Origami #8, 1992, acrylic on canvas, 122 x 122 cm
Melbourne Modern: European art and design at RMIT since 1945, curated by Jane Eckett and Harriet Edquist, is now open at RMIT Gallery, featuring the work of ROBERT OWEN and JOHN DAVIS.
In the wake of WWII, hundreds of exiled and displaced European artists, architects and designers arrived in Melbourne and sought employment with RMIT. Melbourne Modern traces a legacy of European intervention and interdisciplinarity through successive generations of RMIT teachers and students to the present day.
The exhibition continues until 17 August.
ROBERT OWEN | HONEY LONG & PRUE STENT
Congratulations to ROBERT OWEN and HONEY LONG & PRUE STENT on being selected as finalists of the Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award 2019.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this annual acquisitive award and exhibition is organised by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit at Deakin University. One work will be awarded $10,000 and become part of the Deakin University Art Collection. The winner will be announced at the opening of the exhibition of finalists’ work on Wednesday 29 May 2019. The finalist exhibition will continue until 12 July.
Robert Owen, 'Shadow Caster 2', 2019, painted stainless steel, 65 x 69 x 62 cm
Honey Long & Prue Stent, Field Sip XIII, 2018, blown glass, water sample, rock
LYNDELL BROWN & CHARLES GREEN | MURRAY FREDERICKS | ROBERT OWEN | SAM SHMITH
Lyndell Brown & Charles Green, 'Transmigration', 2007, oil on linen, 152 x 152 cm.
Four ARC ONE artists, LYNDELL BROWN & CHARLES GREEN, MURRAY FREDERICKS, ROBERT OWEN and SAM SHMITH, are featured in the new issue of Vogue Living.
Click here for a full tour of the private residence they hang in.