11 June 2010

Art heros - Rosalie Gascoigne



I wrote about Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne briefly a while ago, while there was an exhibition of her work in Melbourne (2009). If you missed the show, check out this useful online education guide.

"The exhibition investigates the artist’s ability to draw creative inspiration from the discarded; her intrinsic response to her chosen materials, and her unique ability to evocatively convey the essence of nature and the transitory and captivating effects of light, air and space." With road signs and other found material, no less.

She first exhibited at the age of 57, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1982; she worked vigorously into her 80s. While raising children in an isolated academic community, she turned to flower arranging, and after excelling in ikebana, she went on to make works in scrap iron and other material from scavenging expeditions. In her final years the colour and text faded from her work, and she produced meditative, elegaic compositions -

2 comments:

kathy loomis said...

Rosalie Gascoigne is one of my favorites!! I learned about her several years ago from Nancy Crow and since then have been noticing her on my radar screen here and there.

I didn't see the exhibit in Melbourne that you refer to, but I did see a couple of her pieces in a show in Sydney last year -- even more wonderful in person than in books.

kathy loomis said...

The link you showed to the Melbourne gallery no longer works, but if you Google Rosalie Gascoigne you can find an entry called "image results for Rosalie Gascoigne artworks" that will show you many, many of her works. It's worth a click or two!