VAS Magazine MAR-MAY 2025

VICTORIAN ARTISTS SOCIETY

VA S

magazine MAR - MAY 2025

VICTORIAN ARTISTS SOCIETY

VICTORIAN ARTISTS SOCIETY VAS Magazine March - May 2025

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PATRON IN CHIEF Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC COUNCIL & STAFF PRESIDENT Mark Bagally FVAS TREASURER Raymond Barro EXHIBITING Bruce Baldey VAS Meg Davoren-Honey OAM VAS FVAS Lucy Maddox Nathalie Anne Henningsen Gino Severin Liz Moore Golding VAS D’Arcy Rouillard NON-EXHIBITING Rosemary Noble HON FVAS Ron Smith OAM HON FVAS MANAGER & SECRETARY Kari Lyon PhD EDUCATION & PROGRAMS COORDINATOR Lucy Taylor Schmitzer MEDIA & EVENTS COORDINATOR Hannah Hotker GRAPHIC DESIGN Catherine Jaworski GALLERY ASSISTANTS Sam Bruere Catherine Jaworski Rhiannon Lawrie Joshua Rushin Lucy Wilde CONSULTANT Anne Scott Pendlebury HON FVAS HONORARY HISTORIAN Andrew Mackenzie OAM HON FVAS VAS MAGAZINE EDITOR Bruce Baldey VAS MAGAZINE DESIGNER Catherine Jaworski

The VAS Magazine is printed through the Office of the Victorian Artists Society. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the VAS Council or the editors of this magazine. Articles from members will be appreciated. Contributions will be published on a strictly honorary basis and no payment will be made. The Victorian Artists Society acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present, and the Aboriginal Elders of other communities.

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Cover Image: descript, Jennifer Fyfe, (cropped)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 14

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04 Boilover at the Summer | Bruce Baldey VAS 06 Bruce Fairless VAS | Bruce Baldey VAS 08 Artist of the Month | Susannah Bond 09 From the VAS to Paris Salon honours | Ian Hobbs 12 The VAS Hansen Little Coterie | Lucy Maddox 14 Imprint | Jennifer Fyfe 18 Centrefold | Lisa O'Keefe 20 Joyce McGrath OAM FVAS | Bruce Baldey VAS 22 From the VAS Collection | Bruce Baldey VAS 24 AI, Art and Mosaic | Brendan Weekes 27 2025 Norma Bull Portraiture Scholarship Award 28 Contemporary Exhibition 30 "We'll Let You Know" | Anne Scott Pendlebury HON FVAS 32 Crossword 33 Quiz 34 Answers 35 Upcoming Exhibitions

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at the Summer words Bruce Baldey VAS

“

The sculptor in creating his work does so by the strength of his arm and with great bodily exertion, while the painter sits at great ease in front of his work, well-dressed and wielding a very light brush” 1

the Sea to a New Beginning were declared joint winners of the 2025 VAS Summer Exhibition by the Judge, Fiona Bilbrough. Fiona is President of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society and a past recipient of the Alice Bale Travelling Scholarship.

For the first time in memory, sculpture has taken the honours at a major VAS Exhibition. Liz Gridley's Dichotomy and Marija Patterson’s Over

Source and Reference 1. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), (who was not schooled in early 21st Century pronouns….)

Judge's Comments Winner 1 (left) Over the Sea to a New Beginning, Marija Patterson A quirky, but exquisitely executed small sculpture with a delicately modelled face.

Humble in size but enchanting.

Winner 2 (right) Dichotomy, Liz Gridley A beautifully balanced classical sculpture. Shows a clear understanding of the human form.

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Country Lane, Susannah Bond

Prayer, Hamid Abbasi

Until Then, Theo Van Oostrom

Late Evening Ballet Practice, Malcolm Drysdale

Just Passing Through, Neil Whalebone

Summer Reds with Silver Plate, Cynthia Venn

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Bruce Fairless VAS (1925-2005) words Bruce Baldey VAS

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Drawing is the basis of art”.

Attributed to the 20th century Abstract Expressionist Arshile Gorky1 (1904-1948) this quote might well have been voiced by any number of artists, celebrated or otherwise. Despite his dislike of formal schools of art, Van Gogh completed the traditional drawing course focusing on plaster casts of various parts of the human anatomy at the Academie Royal des BeauxArts. The work of Scottish artist Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) featured in a recent exhibition Birds of Passage at the QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art. Although Fairweather’s work is highly stylised and abstracted his drawings and paintings demonstrate his “feeling for figure drawing and especially for the dynamics of movement’2, no doubt the result of his four years of study at the Slade School in London (1920-24).

Bruce Fairless VAS was a longtime member of the Victorian Artists Society and a regular participant in our Select Exhibitions from the 1970s until his death in 2005. Until recently we held his portrait of Stan Farrell in the VAS Collection. Bruce

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was a fine draughtsman and a regular attendee at the VAS Life Drawing sessions. The VAS Collection finds itself short of traditional drawing pieces and has accepted the offer of one of his drawings from the Fairless family.

Born in 1925, Bruce Fairless joined the Navy at 17, leaving his home above the State Savings Bank in Creswick, where his father was the manager at the time. Creswick, being home to the artistic Lindsay family, was possibly where thoughts of art as a future career for himself may have begun. At the end of WW2, aged 21, he attended Bendigo School of Mines, studying drawing while working as an emergency bank teller at various branches in the district. Times and circumstances had changed, and returning to previous studies was often not an option for his generation. He was guided towards a relatively secure career in the bank by his parents, who themselves had been through the upheaval of the First World War. It was at a dance in Bendigo where he met his wife Elaine, and they married at Scotch College Chapel in 1950 where he

had been a pupil. Family followed, and after deciding the bank was not for him, he applied and got a job at Shell in the city. A four-year stint as a country rep followed, then back to the city office in the mid sixties, after which he reconnected with art in his spare time and together with Elaine, joined the local art group in Mentone. Several years of voluntary Committee work followed and after a long, but successful campaign with others to Council for a home for Mentone-Mordialloc Art Group, members could, at last, permanently set up their easels. After retiring at 52, he was able to indulge his lifelong passion of art. He had his first solo exhibition shortly afterwards and together with Elaine, who herself became an award winning watercolourist, enthusiastically took part in the local art scene until 2005.

References: 1. Series 11 Episode 4 of the BBCTV production Fake or Fortune, now streaming on ABC iview, features the work of Arshile Gorky 2. The golden age for wandering artists shines bright in his exhibition Exhibition review by Christopher Allen, Weekend Australian Magazine, December 21-22, 2024

Bruce Fairless at VAS, 1991

Graceful, No. 83, Bruce Fairless, VAS Collection, 2003

Figure Study, No. 17, Bruce Fairless

Unknown Title, No. 39, Bruce Fairless

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Susannah Bond

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artist spotlight

am an emerging semi abstract artist exploring depth of colour and texture through mixing oil paint with cold wax. I love to draw from places and emotive references to evoke a memory through layers and adventurous use of colour and colour

Left Above: The Point, oil and cold wax, 2024 Left Below: The Surfer, oil, 2019

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harmony and find huge excitement as each painting is transformed. Inspired by 20th Century artists such as Henri Matisse, Nicolas de Stael and Bernard Cathelin I am enjoying new challenges as my journey unfolds.

Right Above: Rosa, Rossa, oil, 2019 Right Below: Country Lane, oil and cold wax, 2025

From the VAS to Paris Salon honours E. Phillips Fox (1865-1915) Emanuel Phillips Fox is one of Australia's great expatriate artists. Born a stone's throw from the Victorian Artists' Society, he sits on our council through the 1890s and later finds success on the world stage painting colourful, dappled-light paintings of women at leisure. words Ian Hobbs

Image: Art Students, E. Phillips Fox, 1895, oil, Art Gallery of New South Wales

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The Green Parasol, E. Phillips Fox, 1912, oil, National Gallery of Australia

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et's briefly look at the life and times of E. Phillips Fox through the lens of two paintings, Art Students and The Green Parasol.

Art Students is not typical of Fox's oeuvre, but it introduces Australia to elements of French Impressionism on a largescale canvas, setting the work apart from the heroic, nationalistic themes of local impressionists as it hangs in the 1895 VAS Annual Exhibition.

Its frank naturalism depicting life-size art students in low tones and cropped at the canvas edges irritates many commentators of the day. 'Unfeminine', 'Ugly realism', they cry, while others give backhanded compliments. Today, Art Students is considered one of Fox's masterpieces and hangs proudly in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, happily compared with some early paintings of Degas and Renoir. Art critic John McDonald declares that "in works such as Art Students, Fox matches anyone in Australian art".

The painting displays colouristic skills without being overly colourful. Faces are flattened and softened in the diffused light prompting biographer Ruth Zubans to say: 'the figures are portrayed in a new way, so as to give the painting the uncomposed look of a snapshot'.

Fox paints Art Students at the Melbourne School of Art, an institution for mostly women that he runs on Parisian atelier and plein air lines from 1893 with his good friend Tudor St George Tucker after returning from five years tuition in France. At this time the Paris Salon awards him a Gold Medal, the first Australian to receive such a significant honour from the prestigious establishment.

Through the years 1893-1900 the reserved painter is ironically a vocal member on the VAS council.

He receives 700 pounds (approx. $130,000 today) over three years for a National Gallery-commissioned work of Captain Cook's landing with the stipulation that it be painted overseas. It is Fox's one and only nationalistic canvas and a ticket back to his beloved Europe in 1901.

Now, to The Green Parasol.

It is 1912. Fox is at the height of his artistic powers. The French Salon has accorded him full membership, the first Australian to achieve the honour and rare among foreigners. Marriage to the emerging and sociable English artist Ethel Carrick has created a relaxed lifestyle at their apartment in a Montparnasse artists' colony, with regular guests that include fellow expatriate and close friend Rupert Bunny.

The Green Parasol, an Edwardian-era painting of a woman in repose is quintessential Fox. The vibrant colour and effects of filtered and reflected sunlight at play combine the light-filled beauty of Impressionism with academic realism. In the painting, resident student and model Edith Anderson (who will become the mother of eminent architect Robin Boyd), sits in the Fox's studio garden shortly before she marries Australian landscape artist Penleigh Boyd.

As Joseph Addison wrote centuries before:

‘A Garden…is naturally apt to fill the Mind with Calmness and Tranquillity, and to lay all its turbulent Passions to rest’.

So, is Edith in contemplation of her marriage in The Green Parasol? Or, is Fox saying farewell to his favourite model?

Who knows? What we now know is that everything is about to change. Both parties soon return to Melbourne as La Belle Époque ends in 1914 with the onset of World War 1. Fox dies in Fitzroy a year later aged 50 years leaving a recently-estranged wife, and Edith Boyd, unhappily married as well, loses her war service-afflicted husband in 1923.

Nothing stays the same, except for the paintings left behind.

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The VAS Hansen Little Coterie words Lucy Maddox

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024 saw the introduction of a new and very welcome addition to the Victorian Artists Society: the VAS Hansen Little Coterie.

Generously funded by the Hansen Little Foundation, we were able to support a group of five promising artists at a turning point in their careers.

Liz Gridley, Michael W. Smith, Genny Gadd, Natasha Ber and Rhi Edwards were the inaugural members of the Coterie. Over the course of twelve months, they engaged in mentoring with Jen Fyfe, Greg Smith and Lucy Maddox, and received classroom guidance from several teachers including Lee Machelak and Zoja Trofimiuk. Additionally, they were

given access to the VAS studio and life drawing sessions to hone their practices. While the Coterie residents gained invaluable skills, they also enriched the VAS community immensely. All five artists participated in the annual Select exhibitions, and three were put forward for the Artist of the Year award. In addition, Liz Gridley was awarded the Hansen Little Coterie Featured Artist award for her outstanding commitment to the program and the incredible standard of her work.

For 2025, we are fortunate to not only continue the Coterie program, but also to increase the number of recipients.

The 2025 Hansen Little Coterie members are:

Jenn Huang Swathi Madike Jemma Cakebread Andrew Li Madaline Harris-Schober Caterina Leone These deserving young artists will undoubtedly be a valuable addition to the Victorian Artists Society. Keep an eye out for their work in the upcoming Autumn Select exhibition, opening March 29th.

Above Image: The Life and Death Masks of Ludwig von Beethoven, Liz Gridley (Winner of the Hansen Little Coterie Featured Artist Award 2024), Oil on Aluminium

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2025 Coterie Residents

Andrew Li

Caterina Leone

Jemma Cakebread

Jennifer Huang

Madaline Harris-Schober

Swathi Madike

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describing a living story Through painterly images, Jennifer Fyfe seeks to elicit a feeling of connection in her audience and convey a message, story, and emotion. Fyfe paints on unconventional substrates as an exploration of texture and colour and, more profoundly, as a response to obsolescence in our aspirational society.

The descript project was born from books rescued from a rainy day on a nature strip, imagining the souls who had thumbed pages and engaged with these stories on their own human journey. The portraits which ensued, created over 5 years, are underpinned by a collection of vintage objects passed on, or found in hard waste, op shops, and second-hand book shops. , Educated in life drawing from age 15, painting and drawing the figure from life has always been the backbone of Fyfe’s art practise. A representational painter, Fyfe works in oils in front of her subject in a time frame of 3.5 hours, in a technique known as alla prima (at once).

Research of this alla prima technique has revealed to Fyfe the importance of this painting procedure in Australian art history and its effectiveness in telling a current story. Vital to her own portrait work, alla prima provides an in-themoment experience which holds in its embrace the atmosphere, the cultural environment, the artist and the sitter, and produces an historical record of an event in time. Fyfe has come to believe that this spontaneous painting process can also be a window into the emotion associated with a moment in time. Fyfe’s works in forthcoming painting projects further investigate this contention.

Throughout Fyfe’s current works, found objects are chosen for their interesting content and for their appearance. Fyfe is continually challenged by the paint’s behaviour on the surface and the often vibrant colour of the substrate but, most of all, by her time limit. Decisions are made ‘spur of the moment’ and paint tones are subject to muddying when working at speed. It is necessary to use

less medium and stiffer brushes to compensate. Fyfe employs loose line work in some areas to give an impression of form without detail. descript is also a reimagining of the 15th and 16th Century Renaissance art experience. A renaissance painting might, at first glance, be a lifelike rendering of a subject yet, on further inspection, yield a message using motifs and symbols such as a skull suggesting finality, lilies for purity, dogs for fidelity and so on.

Paying tribute to these traditional oil paintings, descript presents a resemblance to organic biology, enabling an innate connection with the viewer, however the art can also be ‘read’ by the viewer. The descript paintings communicate our environmental burden through their recycled origins and, through printed and encoded stories, their social message of connection.

Recently, Fyfe has been reaching back into her family history - her connection to Britain and also to the Limestone Plains around Canberra, home of her maternal Ngunnawal ancestor.

Fyfe feels that she is a combination of cultures. A mixture which, indeed reflective of contemporary Australia, is also present in her artwork. Fyfe allows her lineal ties to inspire a

curiosity and sensitivity to country and, on occasion, influence her selection of books and portraits. descript is an invitation to a contemporary audience to engage not only visually but also emotionally with the art of portraiture and the stories it conveys.

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Looking Out, Looking In, Lisa O'Keefe In these shifting times, Looking Out, Looking In is a reflection on our eternal need to remember, contemplate, communicate and leave marks of one kind or another that speak of our lives, our pleasures and our sorrows - in times of happiness and adversity -and on whatever surfaces may present themselves.

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Self Portrait, Joyce McGrath, Victoria State Library Collection, 1957

Joyce McGrath OAM FVAS words Bruce Baldey VAS

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Father Peter Knowles, 1990 Alice Bale Art Award First Prize

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oyce McGrath began with bad luck and frailty, but was given the gifts of grace, perseverance and artistic talent”1 Joyce McGrath OAM FVAS (b. 1925) joined the Victorian Artists Society in 1955 and in 2009 was awarded Life Membership. Her portrait of Lorimer Johnston Esquire is currently held in the VAS Collection.

(See VAS Magazine Jan-Mar 2024 page 28) During her early childhood (1930-1934) Joyce spent 4 years in Frankston Orthopaedic Hospital recovering from the physical effects of tuberculosis (TB). Her parents and visitors were only allowed to come once a fortnight.

(Studies of the risk of behavioural disturbance to children separated from parents at an early age were not done until the early 1950s). Her father Jack had contracted the disease in the trenches of Gallipoli during WW1 and unknowingly passed it on to his daughter. Her fight with the consequent physical impairment continued well into adulthood. Most professions were unsuitable given the ongoing pain and restrictions she suffered. Mother and daughter moved several times around Victoria. Joyce began her artistic career by initially joining drawing classes at the RMIT and then in 1948, enrolling in the Art School of Archie and Amalie Colquhoun, VAS members and

disciples of the Meldrum School of Tonal Impressionists.

A small inheritance from a relative enabled her to set off for London, which became her base for a number of trips to the Continent. On her return to Australia in 1952, she entered the Victorian State Library as a cadet, painting on the weekends and joining the VAS in 1955. Appointed State Library Arts librarian in 1962, she won a Churchill Fellowship, visiting 94 Libraries over 10 months. Despite a life seemingly shaped by illness Joyce was primarily responsible for developing the largest collection of Library arts literature in the Australia.

In 1990 she retired from the State Library and was elected to VAS Council. In the same year her portrait of Father Peter Knowles won the annual Alice Bale Art Prize. A retrospective of her work was staged at the VAS in 1997 featuring 140 of her portraits, drawings and landscapes.

In 2000 she was awarded the OAM for her service to the State Library Arts Collection.

Joyce’s life story is one of courage and achievement against the odds.

Source and Reference 1. Plaster and Paint Jan Harper Arcadia Melbourne 2007

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From the

VAS COLLECTION words Bruce Baldey VAS

Artist: Title: Cat.# Date: Donor: Medium: Size:

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Walter Withers (1854-1914) “Eltham Road” 124 c 1890 (undated) Sargent Family 2024 Watercolour 67cm W x 55cm H

Tranquil Winter, Oil on canvas, NGV, 1895

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alter Withers (1854-1914) was born in Staffordshire England and arrived in Australia in 1882 already a trained artist having attended the Royal College of Arts in London. He returned to the UK to marry and then to settle in Paris where he was introduced to Emanuel Phillips Fox and the Academy Julien. He studied there for 18 months before returning to Melbourne in 1888 where he joined Streeton, Conder, Roberts and McCubbin at the artists’ camp at Eaglemont. In 1891 he assumed the role of head of the Heidelberg School by taking over the spacious mansion ‘Charterisville’ and subletting it to other artists. His wife gave piano lessons there while he opened a studio in the AMP Building in Collins Street, giving lessons and exhibiting. In 1894 his masterpiece Tranquil Winter was exhibited at the VAS and bought by the Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria Two of his most famous paintings are about storms, and in 1895

he won the first Wynne Prize given by the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW) for landscape painting with The Storm, an oil on canvas subsequently acquired by the AGNSW. He won the same prize for a second time in 1900. While living for a time in Creswick, near Ballarat, he gave plein air classes attended by Norman and Percy Lindsay, among others.

In 1903 he and his wife moved for the last time to Eltham to a timber house on the corner of Bolton and Brougham streets where he added a studio and painted many works featuring the local landscape including the watercolour now in the VAS Collection. The setting is the artist’s favourite area, the fringes of settlement.

In 1905 he became President of the Victorian Artists Society and a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria which he retained until his death in 1914 at his bushland home.

The Storm, Oil on canvas, AGNSW, 1896 VAS Magazine March - May 2025

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AI, Art and Mosaic part two

words Brendan Weekes

AI image generators The past year has seen a proliferation of new AI image generators. These use any image that is published on the internet to create a novel artform. Examples include: DeepArt an online platform that uses neural networks to apply artistic styles to images; Deep Dream Generator, that allows users to apply deep neural networks to their own images, resulting in ‘dreamlike’ and surreal visual effects; This Person Does Not Exist uses a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to generate realisticlooking faces of people who do not exist; Artbreeder a platform that enables users to create and manipulate images blending visual elements; DALL-E an AI model developed by OpenAI that generates images from textual descriptions (verbal input); DeepArt.io uses deep neural networks to transform photos into artworks inspired by famous painters; RunwayML a toolkit that allows artists and software developers to use pre-trained machine learning models, including image generators to collaborate in AI-generated content; AI Painter uses AI to turn sketches into fully rendered artworks; Pix2Pix which is a translation software that can turn sketches into realistic images; GANPaint Studio allows users to modify and manipulate images using generative AI e.g. to add or remove visual features in images. It is obvious that AI can generate realistic artforms and will get better at this task in the future, although the release and subsequent withdrawl of Gemini by Deep Mind (due to the lack of

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cultural awareness) will limit the growth of AI (Saul, 2024).

Despite this, it is timely for artists to explicitly define the criteria considered to be necessary for artforms to be considered ‘art’.

What is Art? Philosophers have long debated this question and art history documents many evolutions in what art means.

For Plato, art imitates the objects and events of ordinary life. Post antiquity, art came to represent being and truth with perfection a criterion for success. For Heidegger, art is the means of creating truth and interpreting reality.

For Hegel, art is the expression or manifestation of a free spirit in any medium (such as metal, stone or color). What art history reveals is that definitions of art are based on cultural, historical, and individual perspectives.

A different way of thinking about art is to consider the socio-cultural context and humanism. Art encompasses a diverse range of human activities and skills that generates the creation of visual, auditory, and performance outputs that express the creator's imagination, emotions, ideas, or technical skill. The defining properties of art are expression and communication i.e. artists use a variety of mediums and forms to convey thoughts, emotions, and messages to audiences; creativity, imagination and novelty i.e. art delivers new perspectives, ideas, and interpretations into the pubic domain; aesthetic

appreciation i.e. beauty, form, composition, color, texture, and visual or sensory elements are admired by others; reflections of a cultural and historical context i.e. styles, movements, forms of expression; variety of forms e.g. visual (painting, sculpture, photography), performance (dance, theater and music), literary (poetry, prose), digital, multimedia art; subjectivity in interpretation requiring empathy, imagination, intuition, reasoning, phenomenology and self reflection. AI meets few of these criteria now.

The output of AI affords engagement and interpretation and the conversation is no different therefore to an artform produced by human endeavour. A lay audience will project the same emotions, concepts, experiences, ideas, interpretations, memories, and perspectives on AI art if the product is aesthetic. What AI cannot do is engage in a conversation about its own output or (spontaneously) produce self awareness of its products. We can describe these characteristics as phenomenology and output as subjective, conscious experience - qualia.

Philosophers, Psychologists, and Neuroscientists use phenomenology to study qualia from a first-person (subjective) perspective to comprehend the essence of phenomena as they are directly experienced by an individual (Husserl, 1963). It is interesting to note features of this academic discipline when addressing my central question. Phenomenology emphasizes the intentional nature of human consciousness which is always directed towards the objects or phenomena in the environment and the conversation focuses on the relationship between consciousness and its objects. As well as the descriptive method of phenomenology, there is also a hermeneutic dimension, which emphasizes the interpretation and comprehension of the meaning of lived experiences within their cultural and historical context. Because AI has none of these capabilities (yet), the products of generative AI don’t meet the criteria for art.

But is art simply what art is? Danto (2013) is an art critic who challenges the idea that art is an indefinable concept and instead conceptualizes art as universal and therefore everything. For Danto, a creative product can be considered art according to two criteria: it represents embodiment and also shared meaning. Embodiment refers to the concept that cognition, perception, and experience are grounded in the physical body and its interactions with the environment. It suggests that the mind is not separate from the body but rather emerges from the body's interactions with the world. Since AI is not animate, it cannot experience embodiment or lived experience (yet). AI can produce a representation that affords meaning to an observer but does that mean it also understands? A third criterion is that art ‘affords’ an interpretation (Gibson, 1979), meaning it presents infinite possibilities for engagement - aesthetic, emotional, critical, intellectual, theoretical, verbal, and nonverbal. I suggest other criteria emerge to define art in the era of AI - authenticity, irreplacibility and unpredictability.

Authenticity Authenticity is a hallmark of civil life and arguably a pillar of

Figure 1: An AI image generated by the prompt “AI represented as a mosaic” using DaVinci (November, 2023) and the same concept depicted by the author.

civilisation for example justice. It is not yet clear, and indeed there are several doubts, about whether generative AI meets the criterion of authenticity, specifically for verbal platforms such as Bard and Chat GPT, but also nonverbal models such as DaVinci and Gemini. Authenticity refers to being genuine, real, or true to one's character, spirit, and identity. It requires sincerity and a lack of lies, fakery and pretense. Authenticity is associated with honesty, transparency, and being true to one's own thoughts, actions, and their interactions. Authenticity is not the same as originality which is a novel output never seen before.

As with all artforms, AI art contributes to the construction of personal and collective identity; reflects cultural values, traditions and perspectives; and it evolves over time. It can be a source of inspiration, reflection, and exploration of experience and yes it is undoubtedly original. However, AI is not authentic because authenticity aligns with core values and principles in different situations (morality) and requires self-awareness i.e understanding one's values, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses. Authenticity is also associated with originality and expression of unique VAS Magazine March - May 2025

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artistic style. According to that criterion, generative AI could become authentic. However, as authenticity depends on self awareness of thoughts and actions, AI is not authentic. It is also not yet able to separate fiction from truth because it is not authentic. Moreover, attempts to mimic authenticity (e.g. Gemini) are failures due to the inability to discriminate between fact and fiction, imposing financial constraints on AI. Where are we headed?

Art history includes various movements, styles, and periods, each characterized by unique artistic approaches and philosophies e.g. the Renaissance, Romanticism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, and Realism.

Generative AI art has already come to be referred to as digital reflecting the current age we live in. History will determine whether this movement will be viewed as art. Art also has the power to contribute to social, political, and cultural issues in terms of challenging norms, provoking thought, or advocating for change.

This essay is an existence proof that generative weak AI meets some criteria already, although not yet all.

All artforms require technical skill and mastery of techniques and, critically, dexterity and manual work typically with the hands. This has spawned a new word for artists as makers. The level of craftsmanship can contribute to the overall quality and impact of a work of art at least in the opinion of

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the expert. It is less necessary in the appreciation of a lay audience.

However, as generative AI is capable of dexterity (robots), albeit without human handwork, and production of artifacts (3D printing, images, paintings), it meets the criterion of artform. It may come to meet the criterion of embodiment and even some level of meaning. But will AI ever be self aware and could it ever engage in a conversation about its phenomenology?

Art and AI are different One of the most striking differences between art and AI is in the method of production. At a very superficial level, AI does not require human intelligence and traditional forms of art do. At a deeper level, the output of generative AI is dependent on a specified output and human art is not. Artists do often work to a model or desired output and this is seen most clearly in realism.

However, the product of a human artist is rarely realism and yet it is undeniably art. AI, however, actually depends on a criterion of realism and this is the fundamental principle upon which it delivers an artform and is judged according to its own learning algorithm. The algorithm will continue to evolve and learn depending on the feedback it receives regarding its proximity to a predetermined output, as well as the judgment of experts and lay persons. Although

some artists do use the same criteria, and change their art continually, this raises some familiar questions: should art be perfect; what is a correct artform; who is an expert?

None of these questions is new and by that standard, generative AI is not different to art. The fact these questions are perennial for human generated artforms, but could be ‘solved’ by generative AI if it reaches perfection, makes these methods of production quite different. Indeed, generative AI relies on cumulative and graded trial and error learning and is unlikely to abandon an artform that does not feel or look right and then start again - unlike an artist.

Enthusiasts of generative AI also claim that we are witnessing a unique phenomenon today in human history.

Human brains contain billions more potential connections between input and output and yet AI, via fewer artificial connections, will soon learn the entire contents of all (written) human knowledge. This leads to the question: will AI ever become self learning? It is possible since any knowledge base will inevitably lead to new concepts, discoveries, trial and error learning, theories and visual representations of all the above. However, knowledge and knowing are two different concepts.

Knowledge has been sitting waiting for discovery in all corners of the globe and throughout history. ‘Knowing’ requires curiosity and serendipity.

Radiant, Liz Gridley

2025 Norma Bull Portraiture Scholarship Award

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his biennial award aims to encourage students of all ages to advance in the naturalistic style of portraiture. The 2025 scholarship is for $5000, which will enable the winning artist to further progress their painting practice.

studios under qualified teachers recognised by the Trustee.

The award is open to tertiary and adult students who are studying art. Studies may occur in art schools, informal institutions, societies or

Selected finalists are to deliver their works to VAS on Monday May 12.

Identify yourself as an entrant by COB Monday 31 March 2025 by submitting your entry form on the VAS website.

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Outside the Comfort Zone: VAS George Hicks Foundation Contemporary Exhibition

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he VAS George Hicks Foundation Contemporary Exhibition once again provided a dynamic showcase of artistic talent, bringing together an exceptional selection of works from both emerging and established artists. This annual event remains a highlight on the VAS calendar, offering a platform for innovation and fresh perspectives while maintaining a strong connection to the Society’s rich artistic traditions.

Beyond the award winners, several works stood out to staff and visitors alike. Maria Radun’s luminous blue raven was particularly striking, its vivid colour and meticulous detail creating an ethereal presence in the exhibition. Gino

Severin’s moody black still life commanded attention with its rich depth and atmosphere, and Zulu’s Genetic Intersect was a stunning feature piece, executed with remarkable technical skill and conceptual depth. These standout works, along with many others in the exhibition, exemplified the spirit of the Contemporary Exhibition—balancing innovation with a deep respect for tradition.

For those who experienced the exhibition firsthand, it was a testament to the talent and vision present within the VAS community.

The VAS is appreciative of the support of the George Hicks Foundation and their ongoing support of contemporary art.

Left: First Prize Sculpture Cachexia, Catherine Weng Below: First Prize Winner Greyscale 7, Alan Howell

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Genetic Intersect, Zulu VAS

Transposition, Susan Sutton VAS

Hands of Time, George Eustice

Homage (Fight Club), Sam Bruere VAS Highly Commended

The Unofficial Chronicler of People In Places, Lisa O'Keefe

The Udi at Nareet, George Eustice

At the Cafe, Nathan Moshinksy VAS

All The City's Lights, Garry Dolan Curator's Choice

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VAS Selection Panel

“We’ll Let You Know!“ What is the difference between being 'Rejected' and being 'Not Selected' words Anne Scott Pendlebury HON FVAS

T

he photo attached to this article is from the VAS archival collection of documents and photographs. It shows one of our “Selection Days” back in 1955. It is a very interesting record – and I think the only one – of how the Selection process worked 70 years ago. One can see a group of people seated in a semi-circle.

This was the VAS Council at the time, when all exhibiting council members attended ‘Selection Day’ for the main exhibitions. It was an important day, generally a Saturday,

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between 9am and 5pm. All eligible councillors were required to attend, mindful of the responsibility placed upon them, which was to vote for the best entries registered for that particular exhibition.

Young art students were hired as ‘handlers’ to parade the individual art works before the council. Each work was turned face inward to the wall, then individually held up by the students over a period of many hours for consideration for selection. The result was decided by a majority vote. Much time was devoted to scrutiny and

discussion.

I cannot imagine present day Councils agreeing to devote one entire day several times a year to sit for several hours at a time and enter into lengthy debate as happened in previous times; but in the tradition of European salons and galleries as well as Australia’s own Archibald Prize, it appears to have been a successful method of selection. (Up until 1946, the Trustees of the Gallery of NSW made the selection for the Archibald Prize. From 1946 onwards, it was considered fairer to engage a more qualified committee of people to undertake the selection process.)

In 2025 the process at the VAS is undertaken by an experienced and highly regarded group of selectors, brought together by the current President. Decisions are based on quality, execution and presentation.

Compared to the voting system for the present-day Hollywood Oscarsit is a beautifully simple system. One does not have to be an expert in mathematics to understand it.

Our process is also much quicker than the election of a new Pope, when the Cardinals in Rome go into a ‘conclave’ or secluded retreat for days at a time to decide upon a new head of the Roman Catholic Church.

After this process, it is inevitable that some artists will be informed their work has not been included in the exhibition. Reasons are rarely provided by the panel, but the artist can examine their own work to deduce.

Let’s say an actor auditions for a role, arrives late, bumbles his way through, has not really learnt the lines properly and does not even have an interesting interpretation to offer- then it is highly likely he will be ‘rejected’. It will be obvious why and it is unlikely any explanation, discussion

or justification will take place. It’s quite likely that the performer’s artistic integrity and ability might also be questioned. Basically, rejection will take place on the grounds of poor presentation and no proper preparation.

Perhaps this is akin to the painter who submits a work into an Exhibition and has not painted or finished off the edges of a stretched canvas, or enters a work with a chipped frame, as well as dust or finger marks on the glass. Perhaps it has even been presented whilst still wet and maybe the artwork itself is just not of a standard to be exhibited.

So, it is highly likely to be ‘rejected’.

It will be clear why the work has been sidelined and it is easy to see why an explanation, discussion or justification for the decision is not necessary. Once again, the same story of poor presentation and careless preparation.

Returning to the performing arts, if a performer auditions for a role and delivers an impressive reading, but is not suited for the part or the ensemble, it's likely they won't be chosen for that specific role. While this performer certainly demonstrates talent and has a lot to offer, the role may simply not be the right "fit" based on the creative team's vision or the particular requirements of the production, or there is someone even more “right” in the moment of selection. However, this doesn’t mean that the performer’s potential is overlooked. Often, a strong audition can open doors for other roles or future opportunities in different productions.

Similarly, in the world of visual arts, an artist may submit a beautiful piece that, while well-executed,

may not stand out in a highly competitive field. The piece might not be the artist’s strongest work, or while lovely, it may not be among the top submissions for that particular exhibition.

Not being selected provides the artist an opportunity for reflection: Did the piece achieve what was originally intended, or is there room for further development in the concept or execution? If the artist feels confident in the work, perhaps it simply needs to be submitted to a different panel at another time.

For performers, this process can mirror the experience of auditioning with the same material multiple times. Every audition presents a new opportunity to discover something new in the performance, even if selection remains elusive.

Perhaps it is splitting hairs attempting to define the difference between ‘rejected’ and ‘not selected’, but one helpful definition I did discover is:

‘Reject’ To dismiss, or find something unacceptable and inadequate.

To be sidelined, precluded not worthy of consideration.

‘Not Selected’ To be considered, but ultimately not to be chosen in this particular instance.

There is merit, but the opportunity is not the right one.

A subtle difference it mightn’t hurt to keep in mind.

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WORD

CROSS Across

1. Italian painter in Paris, known for elongated portraits (10) 8. Deep blue colour ….marine (5) 9. Meldrum's method of painting was …... (5) 11. The overall term for the creative activity of painting etc (3) 12. Sculptures in Ancient ….. featured gods, goddesses and heroic figures (6) 14. An art exhibition hall in Paris may be called a ……, a gallery (5) 15. Clarice Beckett painted at this time, end of the day (4) 17. Another word for 15 across (6) 19. VAS Drawing Exhibition is named after Edward Heffernan (init) (2) 21. Degas' first name (5) 23. A 'trick of the eye' in painting is an optical ……. (8) 25. Yoko Ono, multimedia artist and singer (init) (2) 26. One of the primary colours (4) 28. A recurring theme in paintings (5) 31. The founding fathers of the VAS were all …. males (3) 32. Did you …. any paintings at the exhibition? (4) 34. Aboriginal art may be called … painting (3) 35. Nicholas Chevalier (1828-1902), colonial artist (init) (2) 37. The rubbing out of a smudge, for example (9) 38. 'Painting is silent poetry' is an old …., that is, a saying (5) 40. E. Phillips Fox's wife, the artist ….. Carrick (5) 41. John Longstaff painted famous bush poet, ….. Lawson (5)

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Down

1. Along with Picasso, a famous French painter is Henri ….., 18691954 (7) 2. Australian artist …… Friend, 1915-1989, private life in question (6) 3. Pictures, paintings, visual representations (6) 4. Paintings of naked people (5) 5. American painter Ida Lathrop (init) (2) 6. Australian Artists' Association, breakaway group 1886 (init) (3) 7. Painter (6) 10. Norman …….. 1879-1969, Blue Mountains artist and writer, from Creswick art family (7) 13. Archibald Prize winner, …… Buckmaster, 1897-1968 (6) 16. Austrian artist, Gustav ….. , 1862-1918, known for gold decoration (5) 18. Joy Hester painted with raw ……., real feeling (7) 20. Rodin sculpted 'The Gates of ….' (4) 22. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes are within this city (4) 24. Depicting a naked model is called …. drawing (4) 26. At auction the painting attracted a lot of …., that is, offers (4) 27. Some artists' studios are very ….., as in not neat (6) 29. Opportunity only knocks …. ! (4) 30. Yosl Bergner, 1920-2017, painted in Melbourne for ten years, then to this Jewish homeland (6) 31. The AAA decided to …. with the VAA to form the VAS in 1888, unite (5) 33. McCubbin's The Pioneer is …… in size, big (5) 36. Sculptors might use …. for modelling (4) 39. Eric Thake, artist and designer, 1904-1982, Cato Prize winner (init) (2)

Answers on Page 34

QUIZ Mrs Smith’s Trivia & the GBH Last Supper, Lucy Fekete

1 2 3 4 5

colour?

1969?

Vermillion is a hue of which primary colour?

Apart from chroma, what other terms refers to the brightness or strength of a Which credit card features the head of a Roman centurion?

Which Spanish surrealist painter designed the Chupa Chups logo in

What is the name given to a colour made by mixing an equal quantity of a primary colour with the secondary colour next to it on the colour wheel?

6 7

The textile company Marimekko originated in which Scandinavian country?

The Scandinavian architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), one of the four “great” 20th century Modern Architects along with Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius, was born and practised in which country?

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

In architecture what is a lintel?

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is in which capital city?

What is the English equivalent of the Spanish name Pablo?

Who is the 2024 VAS Artist of the Year?

Who was the first female President of the VAS?

The Reina Sophia Gallery (Spain’s national museum of 20th century of art) is located in which city?

originate?

What is the first Members Exhibition on the VAS calendar?

In which country did the Movement known as Impressionism

16 17 18

What is the name of the Art Prize awarded annually to the best contemporary landscape painting of Tasmania?

The National Art School is in which Australian city?

McCubbin and Frater are names of two Galleries on the first floor of the VAS. What is the name of the other?

19 20 21

Bird in Space is a series of sculptures by which 20th century Romanian artist?

Who was the leader of the Tonalist Movement of Australian painters?

What is the name of the sculptures taken from the Athens Acropolis in the 19th century and ever since held in the British Museum?

Answers on Page 34 VAS Magazine March - May 2025

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Answers CROSSWORD

QUIZ 1. Red 2. Saturation, intensity 3. American Express 4. Salvador Dali 5. Tertiary 6. Finland 7. Finland 8. A structural member spanning a wall opening 9. Canberra 10. Paul (meaning small or humble...)

11. Mary Hyde VAS 12. Dorothy Baker (1980-1983) 13. Madrid 14. Summer Exhibition 15. France (late 19th century) 16. John Glover Prize 17. Sydney (nas.edu.au) 18. Hammond Gallery 19. Brancusi (MOMA New York) 20. Max Meldrum (1875-1959) 21. Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles, British Museum, London

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Upcoming Exhibitions VAS Autumn Select Exhibition 2025 25 Mar 2025 – 14 Apr 2025

Falco, Bird of Prey, Liz Gridley (cropped)

Jennifer Fyfe: descript 16 Apr 2025 – 11 May 2025

descript, Jennifer Fyfe (cropped)

VAS Norma Bull Scholarship Award Exhibition 2025 14 May 2025 – 25 May 2025

Existance, Saman Homaeifar (cropped)

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OUR SUPPORTERS Eileen Mackley AM VAS FVAS & Hylton Mackley AM (HON) FVAS The late Gordon Moffatt AM Noel Waite AO & The Waite Family

CONTACT Telephone 03 9962 1484 Website vasgallery.org.au Email info@vasgallery.org.au Address 430 Albert St East Melbourne 3002 Standard Opening Hours 10am – 4pm Weekdays 11am – 4pm Weekends Transport

5 minute walk from Parliament Station.

Trams 11, 12 and 109 stop on Gisborne Street Meter parking is available along Albert Street

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