Feasting on Art

On August 5th, the exhibition Slow Burn – A century of Australian women artists from a private collection, will open at the S.H. Ervin Gallery. I have spent the past four months working very hard on the exhibition catalogue and am very proud to be a co-author on such an exciting and important project. Of the 102 artists from the collection, I researched and wrote 47 of the bios – the reason the Feasting on Art posts have been quite infrequent. The collection ranges “from the delicate pastels of Janet Cumbrae Stewart to the modernist prints of Margaret Preston through to the bio-techno sculptures of Patricia Piccinini. The works in the exhibition demonstrate the skill and versatility of women artists over the past hundred years” (S.H. Ervin Gallery). In honour of the exhibition I plan to do a mini-series featuring a few of the artists represented in the collection as well as one or two of the artworks that I did not write about for the book. The exhibition will be on view at the S.H. Ervin Gallery until the 19th of September.

Margaret Olley, Still life with mandarins, c.1975
oil on board, 76 x 122 cm, Private collection

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First thing is first, happy birthday baby brother, I hope your 23rd year is a happy one! Every now and again the dreary and cold weather here in Sydney is replaced by a brilliant blue sky and sunshine galore. When this happens the last place I want to be is cooped up in my kitchen and so this beautiful orange and grapefruit dessert was the perfect way to end a warm and sunny afternoon. Cutting the citrus segments was the most time consuming part but when assembled in alternating orange and pink stripes the added effort is well worth it.

Henri Matisse, A Vase with Oranges, 1916
Oil on canvas, Private Collection

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As soon as I saw the recipe for lime cordial on The Traveler’s Lunchbox I knew I had to make a batch. A sale on grapefruit and oranges prompted me into action and the result could not be more delicious. It became a sip of summer in my chilly Sydney flat. With Australia being my new home, I thought it was high time I featured some Australian art. Technically Weaver Hawkins is British but he was a significant artist in the 1940s in Sydney and his work is found in most of the public collections. A dynamic painting needs a dynamic drink and I find this to be the perfect partnership of art fare.

Weaver Hawkins, Little Group with Grapefruit, 1942
oil on board, 36 x 46 cm, Private collection

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