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Contemporary Showcase 19

A selection of recent works by CAS Inc. Members

Decoy Café Bar Gallery, 303 Exhibition St, Melbourne

3 July to 28 September 2017

Review by Shelley Vincent


These are just a few of my thoughts on some of the 27 pieces by 9 artists in the “Contemporary Showcase 19” exhibition.

Sunday Afternoon by Thalia Andrews. The memory of a Sunday afternoon, softly blurred with the passage of time. Indistinct from many other such afternoons. Cooled by the distance from that time and place. Warm tinged with fond recollection.

 

Sunday Afternoon, acrylic on canvas textured paper, 55 x 65 cm, by Thalia Andrews

Into the Elements by Karen Foley. The sounds that are left echoing in your mind after a wonderful piece of music has ended. Warm yellow shimmering with the tones of the music. Cleansing white wiping away doubts and fears. A dark red stripe to bookmark the music in memory.

 

Into the Elements, acrylic on linen, 91 x 61 cm, by Karen Foley

Leafy Sea Dragon by Cressida Fox. Tiny, fragile, sea creature dappled with refracted light from above. So unlike the fire-breathing version. Cleverly camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings. Surviving in a wide and hungry ocean.

 

Leafy Sea Dragon, water-colour & pencil, 23 x 32 cm, by Cressida Fox

Inner Sanctum by Susan Gustafson. The intense pink self that most women keep to themselves. The pink of hope, desire and growth that is the foundation of many things. Shooting out ideas and dreams, truths and illusions. Always striving. Always reaching out.

 

Inner Sanctum, acrylic, 31 x 38 cm, by Susan Gustafson

War 9017, War 2017 1 and War 9017, War 2017 2 by Mandy Hopkins. War will always be with us. Also there will always be someone who will portray it to justify the continuing hostilities or to please the victors. The reasons for a war beginning are many and complex but the result is the same – death and destruction.

 

War 9017, War 2017 1, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, by Mandy Hopkins

War 9017, War 2017 2, acrylic on canvas, 1000 x 100 cm, by Mandy Hopkins

 

Mona Lisa by Heather King. A cool-tones graphic reinterpretation which brings Mona Lisa into the present, to commune with us. Is she now the CEO of Australia Post? Is she pondering the link between diabetes and heart disease? Does she know where the car keys are? Does she even care?

 

Mona Lisa, acrylic, 76 x 61 cm, by Heather King, and Solitude, oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cm, by Wai San Woo

Delicate Descent by Rosemary Mangiamele. The leaf skeletons drift down to land in the frosty blue-greens of a cold morning. The day has just started but it is already chill and empty. Step carefully so you don’t crush the scant remains of what last Spring brought forth. Also remember that there will be another Spring.

 

Delicate Descent, acrylic on paper, 71 x 95 cm, by Rosemary Mangiamele

Twins by Neda Starac. In the space between sky and earth, twin goddesses nurture new life. Their feet are firmly planted on the earth but they look up to the sky. They will go through many trials and rituals to perform their task. They will sacrifice much. Their breast milk will nourish the world.

 

Twins, oil on canvas, 172 x 47 cm, by Neda Starac

Solitude by Wai San Woo. As dusk begins a single waterlily waits for some cool rain to freshen the pond. Man-made structures loom nearby but at water level all is round, wet and soft. Busyness is elsewhere. Here there is only the waiting. There is only this moment.

 

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