Ricky Swallow: Watercolours - The Art Museum at The University of Queensland

Ned 2009
watercolour on paper
Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2009

RICKY SWALLOW: WATERCOLOURS

A UQ Art Museum Touring Exhibition

‘They dream of becoming paintings, but remain moored to the paper surface.’
Ricky Swallow

‘Light where the sculptures are heavy, atmospheric where the sculptures are sharp, the watercolours are rendered with a swiftness that could well seem too easy after the demands of chisels and files. But many of Swallow’s watercolours also dwell on vanitas themes – on mortality and longevity – and their very softness tells us something useful about how his work relates to that tradition. To say that he paints skulls or skeletons is only the beginning of the story. What matters as much as the obvious subjects of the work is the way those subjects are altered and inflected in the telling, the way he seems to be coaxing them out from some blurry place or releasing them back into it.’
Justin Paton

Ricky Swallow: Watercolours is the first exhibition to survey the watercolours of this young Australian artist, who has received acclaim for his hand-carved wooden sculptures. Curated by Steven Alderton, the exhibition comprises 80 works from Australian and international collections. Accompanying the exhibition is a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Justin Paton, Senior Curator at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, and an interview with the artist.

Ricky Swallow won the Contempora 5 award in 1999, represented Australia at the 2005 Venice Biennale, and has exhibited in America, Europe, New Zealand and Japan. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Curated by Steven Alderton

Ricky Swallow: Watercolours is supported by Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, and The Linnaeus Estate, Byron Bay

Image reproduced courtesy of the artist, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London, Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles, and Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington.

24 JULY - 27 SEPTEMBER 2009

A UQ Art Museum Touring Exhibition

TOUR DATES: Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, New Zealand 11 December 2009 - 21 February 2010

TOUR DATES:

Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, New Zealand
11 December 2009 - 21 February 2010