Title

Thornton Walker: La flûte de Pan.

Venues

Beaver Galleries [2] (5 November 2004 – 22 November 2004)

Date

(2004)

Summary

Single-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (ACT). Prints.

Web address

https://www.beavergalleries.com.au/exhibitions/la…

Abstract

About the exhibition

In his third exhibition at Beaver Galleries, Victorian artist Thornton Walker offers a rare insight into the wide range of influences he has embraced as a painter: “I wanted to present an exhibition which highlighted the diversity of subject matter and technique in my practice over the past several years.” Over decades, Walker has painted sepia, wash and watercolour landscapes which are a cornerstone of his practice – although not often exhibited – and represent records of his travels, a personal visual diary. In the mid-eighties Thornton worked on conventional still life studies that evolved into enigmatic paintings using the chinese bowl as a recurring motif. Zen notions of emptiness infused the work, the realism of the ceramic bowl, its shadow affirming its existence, resting on an uncertain background of clouds, roughly textured colour and text. The influence of overseas travel further informed new work. A series of interiors was inspired by visits over a three month period in 1995 to the 14th century infirmary in Pedralbes Monastery, Barcelona. The simple monastic cells he found had a sense of time, history and a stillness he wanted to capture, resulting in a series of watercolours, small oils, and later larger works. More recently, after seeing Picasso’s “Flûte de Pan” at the Musée de Picasso in Paris, Thornton embarked on a series of paintings that are a ‘deconstruction’ of the original: ”I realised it was the backdrop that captivated me, the dream-like seascape and architectural shapes without the two figures.”

Beaver Galleries media, 2004].

Last Updated

03 Aug 2024