David Voigt Ethereal Contrasts acrylic on canvas 85x150cm $13,500

ABSTRACTING THE REAL
An exhibition of all new acrylics on canvas by this prolific award winning artist.

April 12 - June 3, 2008

Opening and Meet the Artist Saturday 12 April 2-4pm

Looking into, rather than at, a David Voigt painting is to look into the artist’s mind. What you find there may at first seem to be an uneasy balance between nature’s unending array of natural forms of beauty and stark contrasts, and abstraction by machine-like geometric shapes and spaces that Voigt often chooses as borders to section off nature’s elements.

The initial misjudged unease gives way to the realisation that what he is offering is a kaleidoscopic view of his landscape, as seen by his mind’s eye. His paintings are personal reminiscences of visited landscapes re-seen in his studio and not necessarily of any particular place or point in time.

He need only step outside his Yarramalong Valley home or studio to experience a myriad of examples of nature, from hidden watercourses to rocky crags, from wind-bent majestic trees to gently swaying reeds and grasses being grazed by cattle in the valley below.

In titling this exhibition of new works Abstracting the Real, I intended to put a name to Voigt’s approach to his viewpoint of landscape. There is always the real in the natural elements he depicts. The abstraction is of the light, the same light so necessary to form the reflected image by our complex visual sensory system.

Equally the light is the most important aspect for Voigt the artist. Abstracting the light’s rays gives him the means to enhance or nullify the light, to shine more intensely on an element or contrapuntally nullify the light’s effects and relegate the element to the mystery of the shadows. By manipulating the light he offers numerous views of the elemental particles of the scenes he depicts.

Developing his style along the lines of mysticism has been David Voigt’s artistic obsession, initially departing from his early art school training, then returning to abstraction, and again to mysticism, imposing them in his unique way on the realities of nature. A number of works here defer to pure mysticism and reveal strong effects of drama and tranquil beauty alike.

On occasion he combines abstract and real elements in a less formal way. Rather than dramatically dividing the canvas by geometry he gently includes it in element formations or particles, or perhaps as background for floral arrangements. In Pathway to Paradise there is a hint of shapes in a shadowy corner, not at first caught by the eye, but when recognised, adds a profound effect to the mystery and explosion of light going on above, as if a subterranean force is helping to create the scene.

David Voigt is a unique artist, unafraid of extending his use of strong colour and artistic licence, for example in Descending Light Particles. His works are almost figments of his imagination, but in reality are very real experiences abstracted by light and point of view, dramatic and subtle at once, always intensely interesting and providing the viewer of his works, and particularly the owner, with a continuous journey through his view of the land, to be enjoyed again and again.

Enter a Voigt painting from any point on his canvas and immediately begin sharing this multi-award winning artist’s journey.

Stan d’Argeavel
Exhibition Coordinator

David Voigt was born in Sydney in 1944 and studied at the National Art School from 1964 to 1968. Between 1969 and 1972 he lived and exhibited in France and Holland with extensive travels throughout Europe returning to live and work in Australia in late 1972.

Among his many awards are the Blake Prize in 1976 and the Blake and Wynne Prizes in 1981. He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia and State Galleries of WA, Queensland and Tasmania as well as numerous Regional Galleries, and Internationally in the Utrecht Collection of Contemporary Art – Holland.

All works acrylic on canvas

Crystal Morning: 75x115cm $7900 SOLDCrystal Towers: 85x65cm $5900Descending Light Particles: 85x65cm $5900Dreaming in Turquoise: 65x83cm $6300 SOLDSnowy River Wilderness: 180x70cm $13,500From Clouds Looking Down: 110x150cm $16,900Colour on the Breeze: 80x80cm $6500Within Cast Shadows: 92x122cm $11,000South Coast Enigma: 100x100cm $10,900 SOLDPassage of Light: 85x65cm $5900Microclimate: 90x90 $8000Flooded Tea Tree: 75x140cm $11,000Pathway to Paradise: 90x75cm $6500 SOLDAs the Crow Flys: 80 x 80cm $6500 SOLDClear Ascent: 41 x 31cm $3300 SOLDRunning Creek Shadows: 41 x 31cm $3300
Sapphire Spring: 50 x 40cm $3600Fragmented Romantica: 37 x 31cm $2900Tropic Cascades: 100x100cm $10,900Mountain Sketches: 65 x 83cm $5900 SOLDSilhouette Valley: 41 x 31cm $2900South Coast Journey 1: 41 x 31cm $2900South Coast 2: 41 x 31cm $2900Mountain of Gold: 85 x 67cm $5900Updraft: 50 x 40cm $3600Southern Exposure: 38 x 31cm $2900