what: withdrawal to the forest
01.04.21 - 22.05.21
Installation images, what; Withdrawal to the forest. Blockprojects, 2021. Photography: Mark Ashkanasy
An exhibition of paintings by what.
what
it’s a simple story
I met him in Katoomba
he told me
he’d left Sydney
for the blue mountains because
it was too expensive
he wanted to paint in peace
i got it
he mentioned
Velázquez casually
i got it
like a writer mentioning
jane austen
like a songwriter mentioning
guy clark
i sensed serious intentions
mixed
with humility
no big man shit
no art theory blizzard
took him at his word
somewhere there
i saw his work
and dug it
then
on another trip to Katoomba
he painted me
red tones
i am in black pants
against a wall
it makes archibald prize
finalists
a good painting
should mention what what
looks like
it was a vital clue
he looks the way
you want an artist
to look - slightly terrifying
wild hair
beard
gentle manner
very inquisitive
in art and the stuff
around art that we will call
life
then
i see self-portrait
screams breakthrough
some tricks
routes
gifted painters
had not followed
what’s face
painted ever so fine
bleeding in and out
and in and out
of field of spectacular
colour
geometric/figurative mix
done
in
master style
then
i get to know
what better
ride in his SAAB
(another sign of genius)
and
play his classical guitar
knowing
he’d devoted years
to mastering guitar styles
to turn
again to
painting
sisters and brothers
this aint no
routine art career
monk-like
immersion
in what he loves
then he hands me the coat
telling me
his girlfriend is
Benedict Cumberbatch
fan from Sherlock
my favourite
tv show/actor of last
years
i
put on coat
what says
‘didn’t think i’d
have to tell you
how to wear it’
'no'
the coat
bought in blue
mountain op shop
lives on me
i pose
and pose
and pose and pose and pose
then
what sends me
finished portrait
on computer
i see
comparison
to self-portrait
also see
fantastic starlit
explosion
into new
territory (time + space)
that we shall call
outer stratosphere
or
modern psychedelic
I’m free in space
looking
ecstatic in space
i
am
beyond
comprehension
of my self
in painting.
witnessing
one
of the great
Australian pieces
of art
since…...
what tells me
he will enter
it
in Doug Moran Prize
and win
i am not so sure
painting a masterpiece
art prizes a gamble
it wins
so
what next?
don’t know
more immersion/ blue mountains
SAAB
guitar
coffee fetish
Velázquez
supreme application
pure intent
i’m watching
Robert Forster (Written on March 7/8 2020)
Robert Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and music critic and co-founded of an indie rock group, The Go-Betweens.
