Melbourne is in the fifth COVID lockdown since the pandemic began and everything is beginning to feel same, same. I’ve been sorting out works for the exhibition at Sandbox Studios in Brunswick which has now been pushed out to mid-September. Fingers crossed that we will be lockdown free, and it all goes ahead.
In the meantime, I’m trying new things in the studio, but nothing is working out. Time to stop and do some reading. I spotted ‘’The Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now’’ on my bookshelf from the 2007 Melbourne masterpieces exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.
As a student, I was in awe of the contemporary art from the collections of the Guggenheim museums. There were works that I had only seen in books and now I had the opportunity to experience them in person. Reading through the book, I remembered the works that resonated with me and undoubtedly informed my art practice.
My favourites included Ives Klein’s non-representational Red Monochrome 1959, and from the 1970’s Donald Judd’s untitled orange metal boxes and Dan Flavin’s untitled yellow and fluorescent light. Interestingly for me, a minimalist at heart, author Valerie L. Hillings compared the works by these artists. Hillings said that the works by Flavin and Judd “generate a dialogue about colour similar to that raised by monochromatic painting, especially with respect to the erasure of the artist’s hand.”
It was amazing to have access to these iconic works. I hope the NGV continues to bring Melbourne these stunning exhibitions (if we can go and see them).
