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Contemporary Showcase 11

A selection of recent works by CAS Inc. Members

Decoy Café Bar Gallery, 303 Exhibition St, Melbourne

19 August - 14 November 2014 

Review by Cressida Fox

Coffee and art, tea and acrylics, breakfast with beautiful paintings, lunch in a gallery – what more could you want? The 28 works by 15 CAS members looked delightful in Decoy Cafe Bar Gallery, with art views from every table. Paintings, prints, drawings and mixed media works. Mountains and seas, ships and sunsets, animals and people, birds and fish, city and country, and more. Here is just a sample.

Summer Seas, acrylic, 91 x 122 cm, by Thalia Andrews

A painterly work with three sailing ships – yachts? I enjoyed Thalia's use of colour and of line, hinting at the masts of the vessels.

Mordialloc Pier, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 122 cm, by Karen Foley

Another aspect of the sea, and with a stretch of beach, it gave me fond memories of other beaches I was taken to as a child.

Those Who Believe ..., mixed media collage, 61 x 61 cm, by Cheryle Bannon

Cheryle incorporates various materials into her works, building up thick layers, resulting in lovely textures and rich colours. The text within the work reads, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”.

The Vision, acrylic & oil on canvas, 76.5 x 107 cm, by Ian Banksmith

In this enigmatic work, I wondered what was lurking within the wild looking tangle of red and green from which the figure emerged, and saw – a vision. Of what? I liked this work, not just for its pleasing colours and forms, but also for the questions it posed.

Appassionato, acrylic on paper, 88 x 70 cm, by Rosemary Mangiamele

Appassionato, a musical term – to play with passion or strong feeling. More questions. It is the music or the passion, or both, that drives this work? Lovely forms, tones and colours. One of the aspects of viewing abstract works that I enjoy is finding images, whether intended by the artist or imagined by me. I hope the artist won't be offended if I say that I could see a panther in a thicket!

Fishes, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, by Marianna Shomero

A line of fishes of unknown species, hanging out to dry as it were. I liked the quirkiness of this work, the use of line and colour to represent fish forms.

Is It Edible?, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 90 cm, by Peter Wendt

A bird assessing its intended prey. Is it edible? Is it bug or arachnoid? I loved the painterliness of this work. Peter lives in a country area, so he has probably been fortunate enough to see wildlife encounters such as this.

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