MARY TONKIN Au s t r a l i a n Ga l l e r i e s
A u s tra l ian G a l l e ri e s
Mary Tonkin Sydney Contemporary 8 - 11 September 2022 Stand F13 Carriageworks 245 Wilson Street Eveleigh NSW 2015 Opening night: Thursday 8 September 5.30pm - 9pm Thursday 8: 11am - 5pm, Friday 9: 12pm - 5pm Saturday 10: 11am - 6pm, Sunday 11: 11am - 5pm
My work begins with the premise that painting can convey something of the sensual envelope of experience as it unfolds over long periods of time - bird calls marking out distances, wattle blossom and moss perfume, light or rain bejewelling a shrub, a memory that arises unbidden, the full gamut of sensations. I work en plein air because I’m most at home in the bush, it is where I can be most myself, fully open and responsive to what is around me. I am not painting a view of the bush, I am within it, acknowledging the presence of each interwoven form and attempting to find a poetic language to convey that particular presence and its effect on me. The central work for this Sydney Contemporary exhibition, Ramble, Kalorama (2017-19) is the culmination of more than ten years of drawing and painting around the problem of how to make a work that conveys the immersive and somewhat episodic experience of being in the bush. Even if I’m standing in one spot to draw or paint, I move about; my point of view, relationship to forms, light and the seasons all change. The previously seen impinges on the present and all the internal stuff I bring to it is in flux. I ramble about and try to make sense of it all, in a kind of ecstatic reverie. This work of 21 panels, each 180 x 90 cm, was painted en plein air over the course of eighteen months, in an area of about 8 x 10 square metres, much of it a kind of log corral of long fallen trees. It is just a little way into the bush from a spring-fed dam on my family’s rare bulb farm - where I grew up and where I have my studio. This painting is not a continuous panorama, but rather it loops through the space, doubling back and repeating forms, overlapping various points of view, ending with what is, in reality, the entry to this little haven, a kind of somersault of tree ferns. I live and work amongst the tall trees of the Corhanwarrabul / Dandenong Ranges to the east of Naarm/ Melbourne. I love this bush. I love its particular chaos and mouldering smell, I love its intimacy – how it envelops and embraces, and its grandeur – the sense of a tree timescale and natural rhythms beyond human ken. I love that sometimes it sparkles and dances, at other times is quiet and almost withdrawn. I’m not sure where or what I’d be without its sustaining presence. We all need these natural wellsprings. Mary Tonkin for Sydney Contemporary, July 2022
Ramble, Kalorama 2017-19 oil on linen 180 x 1890 cm (21 panels) Following pages: Ramble, Kalorama (detail) 2017-19 oil on linen 180 x 1890 cm (21 panels)
Click to view installation of Ramble, Kalorama Interviews about Ramble, Kalorama and other works in this series can be found by clicking the links below: National Gallery of Victoria: Mary Tonkin on painting en plein air | NGV ABC Radio National - The Art Show: Mary Tonkin’s immersive landscapes
After, Kalorama 2021 ‘After, Kalorama’ was made after catastrophic storms here on June 9th last year. Some days after that hellish night, when our driveway and one of the roads to the farm had been cleared, I went to check on my family and walk in our bush. Many old giants had been felled, most regrowth from the catastrophic 1939 fires. These were Stringybark, Mountain Grey Gum and Manna Gums (Eucalyptus baxteri, cypellocarpa and viminalis), all felled in a tangled heap near our top dam. I had driven down roads barely passable with innumerable 1-2m diameter trees sawn through, past many squashed houses and shattered lives, walked our farm tracks, all filled with trees, to find this chaotic scene sparkling with beauty, alive with Lyrebird and frog song.
After, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 320 cm
Tumult, Kalorama 2020 ‘Tumult, Kalorama’ was made when Victoria came out of its long Covid-induced lockdowns and my children returned to school in late 2020. For me it contains something of the chaos and tumult, the despair and delights of those times.
Tumult, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm
Regalia, Kalorama 2020-21 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm
Regalia, Kalorama 2020-21 ‘Regalia, Kalorama’ is of a venerable old Soft Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica) that had been felled at some stage by a long-rotted tree and grown up again so that it formed an enormous right angle. The force of her presence, the light through the Prickly Currant Bush (Coprosma quadrifida) and desiccated fronds made me feel that she was a Queen, these her regalia.
Hot kiss, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm
Hot kiss, Kalorama 2021 ‘Hot kiss, Kalorama’ was made over February and March in bush dominated by Brown Stringybark and Messmate Gums (Eucalyptus baxteri and obliqua), with an understory of Prickly Currant Bush (Coprosma quadrifida) and Bracken (Pteridium esculentum), and is named after the memory of a particular kiss from more than half my life ago; the somewhat shattering tingle and sparkle of which seemed alive in the forms as I painted them.
Embrace, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm
Embrace, Kalorama 2021 ‘Embrace, Kalorama’ was made between lockdowns and ongoing Covid upheaval, when the fronds of this Rough Tree Fern (Cyathea australis) pushed up against me and the very bush itself seemed to offer the hugs or embraces I so missed.
Plunge in, Kalorama 2019 ‘Plunge in, Kalorama’ was made toward the end of my work on ‘Ramble, Kalorama’ when I needed a break to overcome my fear of being unable to resolve that work. It was made over the heat of summer, by a dam that we would often swim in as kids; an attempt to convey those memories and the longing to plunge in and cool off. These dark, fresh water dams are particularly lovely to swim in, the silken feeling of them is quite unlike any other water body.
Plunge in, Kalorama 2019 oil on linen 180 x 180 cm
Forward surge, Kalorama (after Inge King) 2019-20 oil on linen 107 x 156 cm
Forward surge, Kalorama (after Inge King) 2019-20 ‘Forward surge, Kalorama (after Inge King)’ is named for the resonance the curving forms of fallen Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) branches seemed to have with Inge’s superb sculpture of that name.
Altarpiece study, Kalorama 2019-20 oil o
on linen 95 x 174 cm (dimensions variable)
Flourish, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 87 x 91 cm
Solitude, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 77 x 72 cm
Caress, Kalorama, April 2020 oil on linen 67 x 81 cm
Beleaguered II, Kalorama (after Sasetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 50 x 59 cm
Beleaguered III, Kalorama (after Sasetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 48 x 53 cm
Solo II, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 51 x 51 cm
Solo III, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 51 x 51 cm
Stoop, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 59 x 46 cm
Top corner, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 42 x 44 cm
Ahead, Kalorama 2020 oil on birch ply board 60 x 60 cm
Fronds, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 56 x 54 cm
Spring, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 62 x 62 cm
Above: Log song, Kalorama 2019 watercolour and collage on Aquaboard 36 x 244 cm Below: Log song, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 37 x 229 cm
Above: Log song, Kalorama (detail) 2019 pencil on paper 37 x 229 cm Right: Log song, Kalorama (detail) 2019 watercolour and collage on Aquaboard 36 x 244 cm
Above: Ramble, Kalorama 2017 pencil on paper 57 x 626 cm (study for painting) Right: Ramble, Kalorama (detail) 2017 pencil on paper 57 x 626 cm (study for painting)
Wreckage, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 38 x 47 cm
Copperhead, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 38 x 57 cm
Olearia, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 28.5 x 28.5 cm
Anchor, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 25.5 x 29 cm
Bracken Frond, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 25.5 x 29 cm
Chasm, Acheron Way 2019 pencil on paper 28.5 x 29 cm
Frond, Kalorama 2020 porcelain paper clay 24 x 25 x 8 cm
Arch, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 27 x 25 x 7 cm
Log study, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 22 x 25 x 8 cm
Frond fold, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 23 x 26 x 9 cm
Fingers, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 15 x 17 x 6 cm
Twig, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 13 x 15 x 5 cm
MARY TONKIN Born 1973, Melbourne, Australia 1992-94
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
1995
Bachelor of Arts – Honours (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
1996 Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Ceramic Department, Monash University, Melbourne Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Monash University, Frankston, VIC 1998 Summer School and Fall Semester, New York Studio School, New York 1999-2004 Sessional Lecturer (Drawing), Faculty of Art and Design, Monash University, Melbourne 2000-02
Master of Arts by Research (Fine Arts), Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University, Melbourne
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2022 Sydney Contemporary, Sydney 2020
‘Ramble’, Whitehorse Art Space, Melbourne
2019
‘Ramble’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne
2017
‘Between the dams’, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2015
‘Two spots’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne
2013
‘A short walk’, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
2012
‘Black paintings’, Latrobe Regional Art Gallery, Morwell, VIC
2011
‘Home 2000-2010’, Australian Galleries in conjunction with Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, VIC ‘Black paintings’, Australian Galleries, Smith Street, Melbourne
2009
‘Shall we?’, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
2007
‘Near the Top Dam’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne
2005
‘Recent Painting’, Australian Galleries, Sydney ‘Recent Painting’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne
2003
Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne
1999
‘Recent Drawings’, Victoria University Gallery, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2022
‘Salon des Refusés’, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney ‘Hadley’s Art Prize’, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart
2021–22 2021
‘For the Love of Trees’, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC ‘Hawkesbury Art Prize’, Hawkesbury, NSW ‘The Ranges / 3 Perspectives: Mary Tonkin, Fred Williams and Miles Evergood’, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC ‘Tree of Life: a testament to endurance’, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney ‘ The Big Tree and Other Landscapes from the Whitehorse Art Collection’, Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne ‘The AWC Mount Zero Exhibition’, Defiance Gallery, Sydney ‘Hadley’s Art Prize’, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart
2020
‘Calleen Art Award’, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW ‘Paddington Art Prize’, Menzies Art Brands, Sydney
2019
‘Australian Galleries: The Purves Family Business. The First Four Decades’, Book Launch and Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne ‘Hadley’s Art Prize’, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart ‘papermade’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2018
‘A Painted Landscape’, Special Group Studios, Sydney ‘Native Flora’, Silver Leaf Art Box, Merricks, VIC
2017
‘Plein – air’, Mr Kitly Gallery, Melbourne
2015
‘Paddington Art Prize’, Marlene Antico Fine Art, Sydney
2014
‘one of each’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne ‘Australia Day 2014 Celebratory Exhibition’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne ‘Drawing Out, Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial’, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
2013
‘Contemporary Australian Drawing: 20 years of the Dobell Prize for Drawing and the Dobell legacy’, National Art School Gallery, Sydney ‘Australia Day 2013 Celebratory Exhibition’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne ‘Australian Galleries at Gallows Gallery’, Gallows Gallery, Perth
2012-13
‘Summer Stock Show’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne
2012
‘Australia Day 2012: The great Australian Landscape’, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2011
‘large exhibition of small works’, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney ‘large exhibition of small works’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne ‘Australia Day 2011: Celebration’, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2010
‘Blake Prize’, National Art School Gallery, Sydney ‘Kedumba Prize for Drawing’, Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls, NSW
2009-10
‘Summer Stock Show’, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne
2009
Ruby Gap, Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne ‘Prospect and Refuge: Small Landscapes by Five Painters’, La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo, VIC
2008
‘John Leslie Landscape Art Prize’, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC ‘Prospect and Refuge: Small Landscapes by Five Painters’, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Horsham, VIC
2007
‘Small Pleasures’, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Melbourne
2006
‘Stock Show’, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Melbourne ‘Redlands Westpac Art Prize’, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney ‘Fleurieu Peninsula Art Prize’, McLaren Vale, SA ‘50th Anniversary Exhibition’, 5th June, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2005
‘Notes from the Natural World’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne
2004
‘Panorama’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne
2002
‘Dobell Drawing Prize Exhibition’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney ‘Landscapes’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney
2001
‘Drawing’, Faculty Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne
1998
‘Absolute Secret New York’, McKee Gallery, New York, USA ‘Fall Student Exhibition’, New York Studio School, New York, USA
1996
‘1996 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne ‘Drawing from the Visible – New Artists’, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC ‘Radical Choice – Twelve Figurative Painters’, Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney ‘Spring Festival of Drawing Survey Exhibition 1973-1995’, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC
1995
‘Monash Painting Graduates “Opening Exhibition”’, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne ‘Mornington Peninsula Spring Festival of Drawing’, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC
1994
‘The Victorian Campus Art Prize Exhibition’, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
AWARDS 2022 Salon des Refusés People’s Choice Award, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney 2010
Kedumba Prize for Drawing, Wentworth Falls, NSW
2002
Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2000-02
Australian Post-Graduate Award, Monash University, Melbourne
1995
National Gallery of Victoria, Trustees Award, Melbourne
1994
National Gallery of Victoria, Trustees Award, Melbourne Victoria Campus Art Prize, VIC
GRANTS 1998
Robert Greenberg Fees Grant, New York Studio School, New York, USA
1996 Elizabeth Greenshield’s Foundation Grant, New York Studio School, New York, USA COLLECTIONS ANZ Bank, Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Australia Catholic University, Melbourne City of Whitehorse, Melbourne Deakin University, Melbourne Kedumba Collection of Contemporary Australian Drawing, Wentworth Falls, NSW Lowenstein Sharp Collection, Melbourne Monash University, Melbourne Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Margaret Stewart Foundation) Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, VIC UNSW Art Collection, The University of New South Wales, Sydney
BIBLIOGRAPHY Backhouse, Megan; ‘In galleries, it’s show time’, The Age, A2, January 20, 2007, pp. 15-16 Backhouse, Megan; ‘Portraits and paper at Australian Galleries’, The Age, April 2003, pp.18-19 Creswell Bell, Amber; ‘A Painted Landscape’, Thames & Hudson, 2018 Dober, Mark; ‘Mary Tonkin’, Art World, Issue 8, April-May 2009, pp. 118-121 Dober, Mark; ‘Home truths in the lie of the land’, The Age, A2, May 12, 2007, p. 19 Dober, Mark; ‘The branded landscape’, Overland, Issue 183, 2006, pp. 18-22 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, exhibition catalogue, 1996, pp. 60-61 Gray, Paul; ‘Drawn to Success’, Herald Sun, June 17, 2002 Grishin, Sasha; ‘Impressive debut for Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial 2014’, Sydney Morning Herald, December 26, 2014 Kolenberg, Hendrik; Campbell, Helen; Ryan, Anne; ‘Contemporary Australian Drawing. 20 years of the Dobell Prize for Drawing’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Kolenberg, Hendrik; ‘Drawing a Winner – A decade of Dobell Prizes shows us how and why’, Look, AGNSW, August 2003, pp. 24-27 Kolenberg, Hendrik and Ryan, Anne; The Dobell Prize for Drawing: The First Ten Years 1993-2002’; exhibition catalogue, AGNSW, 2003, pp. 34-35 McDonald, John; ‘C.J.Pyle & J.D.’Ohai Ojeikere; Mary Tonkin; Six Artists, Seven Days’, Sydney Morning Herald, August 24, 2013 McDonald, John; ‘Drawing Out, the inaugural Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial is now on at the Art Gallery of New South Wales’, Sydney Morning Herald, December 5, 2014 McDonald, John; ‘Mary Tonkin’, The Good Weekend, August 3, 2019 McDonald, John; ‘Least they could do’, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 21-22, 2005, pp. 28, 29 Nelson, Robert; ‘Mary Tonkin’s painted forests evoke a rhapsodic nature’, The Age, August 2015, p. 47 Nelson, Robert; ‘A dab hand at technique’, The Age, April 6, 2011, p. 17 Nelson, Robert; ‘Art connections going beyond a cringe’, The Age, Metro Arts & Culture, December 26, 2007, p. 18 Nelson, Robert; ‘Corporal process of painting reveals transcendent forest beyond the trees’, The Age, Review, Wednesday June 6, 2007, p. 23 Nelson, Robert; ‘Mary Tonkin and the Onus of Perception’, Mary Tonkin, Australian Galleries, 2003 Nelson, Robert; ‘Lost in space’, The Age, April 30, 2003, p. 12 Nelson, Robert; ‘Undiscovered Artists, Mary Tonkin’, Australian Art Collector, April-June, 2002, p. 100 Nelson, Robert; ‘Visual acumen displayed by artists with confidence’, The Age, June 1996, pp. 12 Pesa, Melissa; ‘Ramble’, Art Almanac, July 2019, pp. 32-34 Robba, Leo; ‘Quintessential Australia’, The Age, January 26, 2013, front page wrap around Robba, Leo; ‘The great Australian landscape’, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 26, 2012, front page wrap around Ryan, Anne; ‘Drawing Out, Dobell Australian drawing biennial 2014’, Look, Art Gallery of New South Wales, November 2014, pp. 24 – 28 Seedy, Kimberly; ‘Braving the elements’, Free Press Leader, November 30, 2011, p. 9 Vaz, Nikita; ‘Taking it in’, Morwell and Churchill Advertiser, May 28, 2012 Vogue Living, Visual Arts Section, May-June 2005, pp. 64 Walton, Inga; ‘Judgement Calls: Mary Tonkin at the NGV’, Artist Profile, July 10, 2013, pp. 106-109 Walton, Inga; ‘Days Like This: Mary Tonkin’, Trouble, 2015 Wise, Kit; ‘Australian drawing Now: labouring lightly’, Artlink, Vol. 25 No. 1, 2005, pp. 35-39
LIST OF WORKS Ramble, Kalorama 2017-19 oil on linen 180 x 1890 cm (21 panels) After, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 320 cm Tumult, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm Regalia, Kalorama 2020-21 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm Hot kiss, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm Embrace, Kalorama 2021 oil on linen 183 x 214 cm Plunge in, Kalorama 2019 oil on linen 180 x 180 cm Forward surge, Kalorama (after Inge King) 2019-20 oil on linen 107 x 156 cm Altarpiece study, Kalorama 2019-20 oil on linen 95 x 174 cm (dimensions variable) Flourish, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 87 x 91 cm Solitude, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 77 x 72 cm Caress, Kalorama, April 2020 oil on linen 67 x 81 cm Beleaguered II, Kalorama (after Sasetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 50 x 59 cm Beleaguered III, Kalorama (after Sasetta: St Anthony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils 1423) 2019 oil on linen 48 x 53 cm Solo II, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 51 x 51 cm Solo III, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 51 x 51 cm Stoop, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 59 x 46 cm Top corner, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 42 x 44 cm Ahead, Kalorama 2020 oil on birch ply board 60 x 60 cm Fronds, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 56 x 54 cm Spring, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 62 x 62 cm Log song, Kalorama 2019 watercolour and collage on Aquaboard 36 x 244 cm Log song, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 37 x 229 cm Ramble, Kalorama 2017 pencil on paper 57 x 626 cm (study for painting) Wreckage, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 38 x 47 cm Copperhead, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 38 x 57cm Olearia, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 28.5 x 28.5 cm Anchor, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 25.5 x 29 cm Bracken Frond, Kalorama 2019 pencil on paper 25.5 x 29 cm Chasm, Acheron Way 2019 pencil on paper 28.5 x 29 cm Frond, Kalorama 2020 porcelain paper clay 24 x 25 x 8 cm Arch, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 27 x 25 x 7 cm Log study, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 22 x 25 x 8 cm Frond fold, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 23 x 26 x 9 cm Fingers, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 15 x 17 x 6 cm Twig, Kalorama 2021 porcelain paper clay 13 x 15 x 5 cm
Left: After, Kalorama (detail) 2021 oil on linen 183 x 320 cm All artwork photography by Matthew Stanton
MARY TONKIN
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