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1 & 2: Installation views of 9 shades of Whiteley
Brushstrokes from Asia
On view: 25 January – 20 April 1997
I feel like a white Asian ... I wish now that my Dad had given me an Asian brush when I was eight, instead of a European sable.
- Brett Whiteley
Calligraphy is the arrangement between freedom, truth and accident.
- Brett Whiteley
Brushstrokes from Asia features works by Brett Whiteley that were inspired by Eastern art and ideas, as well as ink paintings and calligraphy from China and Japan, selected from the treasures of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Like many of his 1960s contemporaries, Brett Whiteley explored alternative ways of thinking based on non-Western philosophies. Zen philosophy, which stressed the breaking free from restrictions of the intellect, particularly appealed to Whiteley, who struggled in his art to capture an intuited essence in one calligraphic gesture.
Working solely with black ink, brush or pen, Whiteley explored his favourite subjects – the body, birds, sea and landscapes. Using these spare, yet powerful materials, he created works of art that were spontaneous and dramatic, as well as lyrical and sensual. A selection of 25 works, now in the Whiteley Estate, are included in the exhibition, of 49 works in total.
Dazzling virtuosity can be seen in the single character Dancing by Shotei Ibata (born 1953), with whom Sydney artist Royston Harpur studied in Kyoto, and in the monumental, Zen-inspired painting by Sofu Teshigahara (1900-79), who was also the head of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. Two powerful new works by Sydney calligrapher Nan Zhou are also included.
A selection of amusing bird paintings and calligraphy styles, ranging from the formal to the cursive, will demonstrate the virtuosity and variety of Chinese and Japanese brushstrokes.
