John Whitlock
Fitzroy Library Exhibition Space
29 March - 27 May 2009
Beyond Reality
Enamels on Hardboard
Neptune Village, 2007, Enamels on Hardboard
John wrote of his work: “The way I go about my business is to work hard, understand colour and not be afraid to push the boundaries right over the edge; essentially I embrace everything, including any mistakes. My paintings evolve from everyday inspirations, experimentation, and using my techniques of mixing media and blending colours... Using my subconscious as a reference material allows me to use a wealth of opportunities that is never-ending..." The result was a body of richly coloured abstract works that engaged the mind and the eye. Some works were inspired by nature. Bark had the textural appearance of a tree trunk as viewed close up. Tracks could have been made by heavy vehicles on a sandy outback road. In Neptune Village, my favourite, the deep sea blue background was interlaced with black lines of seaweed, and the tiny red images along the top of the cliff could be corals or buildings. In Alpine Snow, the sun was a yellow disc and the streaked and rounded forms of blue and white snow could have been falling, or covering trees, buidings or ground. These works could be interpreted in various ways.
Strings 2008, Enamels on Hardboard
Several works were even more enigmatic. In Maze 4 there were no straight lines; the textural white forms wove, twisted and streaked around the picture; there were no obvious entry and exit points but lots of dead ends to get lost in. I was quite fascinated by this aspect. In Strings, it was not obvious where the long wavy forms were going to or coming from or what kind of strings they were - they could be textile or metaphor. I enjoyed John’s works greatly.
Review by Cressida Fox