Paper, Card and Concealed Pigmented Ink, 117 x 56.5 x 13 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Pigmented Ink, 76.5 x 56.5 x 13 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Concealed Pigment (Gouache), 60 x 38 x 12 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Concealed Pigment (Gouache), 60 x 38 x 11.5 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Concealed Pigment (Gouache), 38 x 38 x 10 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Concealed Pigment (Gouache), 60 x 38 x 12.5 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Gouache, 38 x 38 x 11.5 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Gouache, 38 x 38 x 11 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
Paper, Card and Concealed Pigmented Ink, 38 x 38 x 11.5 cm, © Nobby Seymour 2009
I spent my early childhood years on the limestone plains of south eastern South Australia. On hot summer days the landscape was bleached white by the blazing midday sun but as evening approached, colour returned and luminous blue shadows from the red gums crept through the grass, now golden in the late afternoon light.I was intrigued by the intensity of colour in these shadows; it was as if I was looking through transparent slivers of stained glass in an otherwise dusty, opaque landscape.In my last show, Shadowland, I created voids in paper, filled with shadow. In this new show, the voids are infused with colour. With the exception of four of the works, Trunks, Rift and Accretion #1 and 2, the colour is reflected from a concealed pigment source, and although the effect is like looking at small pools of incandescent gas you are in fact looking at plain white paper. This approach attains hues impossible to achieve with pigments on a conventional flat surface.The pieces are a syncresis between my intent (to examine the increased luminosity of colour lying in shadow) and the inherent behavioural characteristics of the material (in this case, paper). This syncresis generates its own forms and formal arrangements; I call this Syncretic Formalism.The titles I have given the pieces are suggested to me by the completed work. The pieces are not imbued with any message or meaning so consequently provide ripe pickings for any viewers creative imagination.
I spent my early childhood years on the limestone plains of south eastern South Australia. On hot summer days the landscape was bleached white by the blazing midday sun but as evening approached, colour returned and luminous blue shadows from the red gums crept through the grass, now golden in the late afternoon light.
I was intrigued by the intensity of colour in these shadows; it was as if I was looking through transparent slivers of stained glass in an otherwise dusty, opaque landscape.
In my last show, Shadowland, I created voids in paper, filled with shadow. In this new show, the voids are infused with colour. With the exception of four of the works, Trunks, Rift and Accretion #1 and 2, the colour is reflected from a concealed pigment source, and although the effect is like looking at small pools of incandescent gas you are in fact looking at plain white paper. This approach attains hues impossible to achieve with pigments on a conventional flat surface.
The pieces are a syncresis between my intent (to examine the increased luminosity of colour lying in shadow) and the inherent behavioural characteristics of the material (in this case, paper). This syncresis generates its own forms and formal arrangements; I call this Syncretic Formalism.
The titles I have given the pieces are suggested to me by the completed work. The pieces are not imbued with any message or meaning so consequently provide ripe pickings for any viewers creative imagination.
Click on above image for details
45downstairs, Melbourne (November 2009)
Shadowland
Cast by Shadows
Lies in the Gutter
Unfolded Privacies
And Now a Few Words
from the Frame
Alimentary Aspects
Back to Previous Exhibitions
Paper, Card, Thread. 111 x 119 x 11 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Card, Thread. 80 x 60 x 12.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Card, Thread. 80 x 60 x 12.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008 © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Card, Thread. 155 x 60 x 12.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Foamcore. 80 x 60 x 10 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Foamcore. 60 x 38 x 9 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Foamcore. 60 x 38 x 10 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper. 39.5 x 39.5 cm. Height (including stand) 110.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Foamcore. 60 x 38 x 10.1 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper, Card and Thread. 60 x 38 x 10 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Paper. 24 x 24 x 8.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2008
Continuing my obsession with shadows, the shadow now becomes the mark.Using high quality water-colour paper, I have carved, torn, burnt (but never plain cut) voids that fill with shadow; in some works they become pools of infinite depth (as in looking up into a clear blue sky, there is no resolution of depth of field.)Apart from two free-standing sculptures Clouds #1 & Clouds #2 the works take two basic forms, rolls or sandwiches. The rolls evolved, due perhaps to the seriality of roll on top of roll on top of roll etc, into works that alluded to the taxonomic (charts, tables etc.) whereas the sandwiches embraced the geomorphic or geometric, save for one work, Sudden Obscurement of Landmark which like Clouds embraces the meteorological.These, however, are retrospective observations. The titles of the works, excepting Sudden Obscurement of Landmark, which is a visual joke for those acquainted with the origins of French Impressionism, came after the completed works whispered their names to me. I work in silence.Notes:All paper 'Arches' Watercolour paper of varying gsm. All Card Cansonboard. All Glue Acid Free. All Foamcore archival. All works partially demountable for curatorial purposes. 'Shadowtrap', 'Tears', 'Clouds #1' and 'Clouds #2' displayed without their acrylic covers.
Continuing my obsession with shadows, the shadow now becomes the mark.
Using high quality water-colour paper, I have carved, torn, burnt (but never plain cut) voids that fill with shadow; in some works they become pools of infinite depth (as in looking up into a clear blue sky, there is no resolution of depth of field.)
Apart from two free-standing sculptures Clouds #1 & Clouds #2 the works take two basic forms, rolls or sandwiches. The rolls evolved, due perhaps to the seriality of roll on top of roll on top of roll etc, into works that alluded to the taxonomic (charts, tables etc.) whereas the sandwiches embraced the geomorphic or geometric, save for one work, Sudden Obscurement of Landmark which like Clouds embraces the meteorological.
These, however, are retrospective observations. The titles of the works, excepting Sudden Obscurement of Landmark, which is a visual joke for those acquainted with the origins of French Impressionism, came after the completed works whispered their names to me. I work in silence.
Notes:
All paper 'Arches' Watercolour paper of varying gsm. All Card Cansonboard. All Glue Acid Free. All Foamcore archival. All works partially demountable for curatorial purposes. 'Shadowtrap', 'Tears', 'Clouds #1' and 'Clouds #2' displayed without their
acrylic covers.
45downstairs, Melbourne (August 2008)
OIL/OIL PASTEL ON MASONITE PANELS. 84 x 124 x 14 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2007
OIL ON MASONITE PANELS. 84 x 124 x 14 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2007
OIL/OIL PASTEL ON MASONITE PANELS, 84 x 124 x 14 cm © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2007
GOUACHE ON CARD PANELS. 43 x 63 x 7 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2007
ENCAUSTIC ON CLEAR ACRYLIC PANELS. 84 x 84 x 7.5 cm. © NOBBY SEYMOUR 2007
While painting A Matter of Fabrication for my last exhibition, I matched the shadow tones cast by the separated panels with equivalent tones painted on the actual panels. I resolved to investigate the potential of this at a later date. 'Cast by Shadows', my 2007 exhibition, was the result.Eventually I discovered that in order to achieve a general shadow tone in the background it was necessary to install a light baffle between the panels. As this separated the panels considerably, any chance of reading the overall work pictorially was greatly reduced and I subsequently settled for an abstracted approach.It was a great pleasure to discover the rich chromatic hues of colours lying in shadow. It soon became apparent that to reproduce these hues on the face of the panels was best attained through allusion rather than illusion.The process proved to be far more difficult than might appear; after many dead-ends and disappointments the first work CBS#1 Zinc White began to take form like a floating spatial fabric in early August, 2006.I find these fabrics analogous to the world arround us. We perceive surfaces as the solid stuff of matter, but in the 'solid' floor on which you stand there are the (invisible) strong nuclear forces resisting the much weaker force of gravity (also invisible) of your body mass.Similarly, the surfaces we read in these assemblages are an ambiguous reality.
While painting A Matter of Fabrication for my last exhibition, I matched the shadow tones cast by the separated panels with equivalent tones painted on the actual panels. I resolved to investigate the potential of this at a later date. 'Cast by Shadows', my 2007 exhibition, was the result.
Eventually I discovered that in order to achieve a general shadow tone in the background it was necessary to install a light baffle between the panels. As this separated the panels considerably, any chance of reading the overall work pictorially was greatly reduced and I subsequently settled for an abstracted approach.
It was a great pleasure to discover the rich chromatic hues of colours lying in shadow. It soon became apparent that to reproduce these hues on the face of the panels was best attained through allusion rather than illusion.
The process proved to be far more difficult than might appear; after many dead-ends and disappointments the first work CBS#1 Zinc White began to take form like a floating spatial fabric in early August, 2006.
I find these fabrics analogous to the world arround us. We perceive surfaces as the solid stuff of matter, but in the 'solid' floor on which you stand there are the (invisible) strong nuclear forces resisting the much weaker force of gravity (also invisible) of your body mass.
Similarly, the surfaces we read in these assemblages are an ambiguous reality.
45downstairs, Melbourne (March-April 2007)
Oil Stick/Pastel on MDF Panels. 258cm x 131cm. © Nobby Seymour 2003
(After the photo by Nicholas Cairé). Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft Ply Panels. 193cm x 160cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft PlyPanels. 240cm x 122cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft Ply Panels. 130cm x 130cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
Oil Stick/Pastel on Laser Cut Aircraft Ply Panels. 200cm x 200cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft Ply Panels. 192cm x 130cm. © 2005 Nobby Seymour
Oil Stick/Pastel on MDF Panels. 129cm x 254cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft Ply Panels. 130cm x 250cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
Oil Stick/ Pastel on Laser Cut Aircraft Ply Panels. 187cm x 150cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
Oil Stick/Pastel on Aircraft Ply Panels. 315cm x 160cm. © Nobby Seymour 2005
While I was painting the screens for 'Unfolded Privacies' I noticed that the gap between the panels, which I referred to at the time as the neutral space, could be used to imply spatial values.In the same manner that we make assumptions about time and narrative in the vertical spaces separating cells in a cartoon strip, I could imply spatial values in the space separating floating panels and leave the viewer to unconsciously make their own assumptions. I painted the first of these floating panel assemblages, SQ 298, while work on the screens was still in progress. This vertical space, I was subsequently informed, is referred to in the printing trade as the gutter. Hence the title for the exhibition. Consequently the images on the panels appear to float and a visual ambiguity is created with the shadow-play on the wall beyond. As our eyes are binocular and set on a horizontal plane we tend to scan across these floating panels and read a horizontal element as a continuous image. Not so with a vertical element. For example, in order to make the vertical element of the waterfall in Falls read as a continuous element it was necessary to camouflage the horizontal breaks (drains?) with the horizontal elements of tree branches. It should be noted that the three dimensional illusion of these panels is to some extent lost in translation to a two dimensional photo on a computer screen.
While I was painting the screens for 'Unfolded Privacies' I noticed that the gap between the panels, which I referred to at the time as the neutral space, could be used to imply spatial values.
In the same manner that we make assumptions about time and narrative in the vertical spaces separating cells in a cartoon strip, I could imply spatial values in the space separating floating panels and leave the viewer to unconsciously make their own assumptions. I painted the first of these floating panel assemblages, SQ 298, while work on the screens was still in progress.
This vertical space, I was subsequently informed, is referred to in the printing trade as the gutter. Hence the title for the exhibition. Consequently the images on the panels appear to float and a visual ambiguity is created with the shadow-play on the wall beyond.
As our eyes are binocular and set on a horizontal plane we tend to scan across these floating panels and read a horizontal element as a continuous image. Not so with a vertical element. For example, in order to make the vertical element of the waterfall in Falls read as a continuous element it was necessary to camouflage the horizontal breaks (drains?) with the horizontal elements of tree branches.
It should be noted that the three dimensional illusion of these panels is to some extent lost in translation to a two dimensional photo on a computer screen.
45downstairs, Melbourne (October 2005)
Oil/Oil Pastel on Linen. 4 Panels - 40cm x 170cm each. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Encaustic on Linen. 6 Panels - each 25cm x 105cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil/Oil Pastel on Linen. 3 Panels - each 40cm x 170cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil/Oil Pastel on Linen. 4 Panels - each 40cm x 170cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil/Oil Pastel on Linen. 3 Panels - Each 65cm x 170cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
Oil/Oil Pastel on Linen. 5 Panels - each 40cm x 170cm. © Nobby Seymour 2004
These screens could be hung flat on the wall, in the manner of Japanese or Chinese screens. However they are intended to be seen as folding screens, standing on the floor on their little legs. The visual penetration around and beyond the screen is important as once again it emphasises the picture plane of each panel. The planes of each panel engage with their neighbouring panel in a kinetic manner as the viewer moves past the screen a visual pleasure denied when the screens are mounted flat on the wall. Another visual pleasure provided by the three dimensions of a folding screen will be observed by the viewer approaching the screen obliquely and observing the juxtaposition of alternate panels at varying focal points. Whereas a conventional painting is designed for frontal viewing, these screens have been designed with the intention that the side view share equal importance with the frontal view.
These screens could be hung flat on the wall, in the manner of Japanese or Chinese screens. However they are intended to be seen as folding screens, standing on the floor on their little legs. The visual penetration around and beyond the screen is important as once again it emphasises the picture plane of each panel. The planes of each panel engage with their neighbouring panel in a kinetic manner as the viewer moves past the screen a visual pleasure denied when the screens are mounted flat on the wall.
Another visual pleasure provided by the three dimensions of a folding screen will be observed by the viewer approaching the screen obliquely and observing the juxtaposition of alternate panels at varying focal points. Whereas a conventional painting is designed for frontal viewing, these screens have been designed with the intention that the side view share equal importance with the frontal view.
Nobby Seymour studio, Prahran (February 2004)
AND NOW A FEW WORDS FROM THE FRAME...
Oil on Canvas. 122cm x 122cm. © Nobby Seymour 1999
Oil on Canvas. 89cm x 122cm. © Nobby Seymour 1999
Oil on Canvas. 254cm x 255cm - 3 panels. © Nobby Seymour 1999
Oil on Canvas. 165cm x 105cm. © Nobby Seymour 1999
Oil on Canvas. 61cm x 61cm. © Nobby Seymour 2000
Oil on Canvas. 122cm x 122cm. © Nobby Seymour 2000
It would seem, in retrospect, that from the age of seven when my grandmother gave me a book on the works of Paul Cezanne, I became intrigued by the tyranny of the picture plane and how in the accepted orthodoxy of Modernism it was a travesty to recede or proceed from this plane. (The picture plane is equivalent to the surface of the picture, be it paper, canvas whatever.) Many of my murals were Trompe loeil, commissioned by heretical architects and designers. These were spatial illusions in which the frame acted as a portal between the real three dimensional world and the painted illusion. Having once been an architect proved to be very useful here. The painting Its mostly in the Frame demonstrates illusion succinctly. In this exhibition I examine how the frame acts as a portal, a focussing device and most of all how it emphasises the picture plane.
It would seem, in retrospect, that from the age of seven when my grandmother gave me a book on the works of Paul Cezanne, I became intrigued by the tyranny of the picture plane and how in the accepted orthodoxy of Modernism it was a travesty to recede or proceed from this plane. (The picture plane is equivalent to the surface of the picture, be it paper, canvas whatever.)
Many of my murals were Trompe loeil, commissioned by heretical architects and designers. These were spatial illusions in which the frame acted as a portal between the real three dimensional world and the painted illusion. Having once been an architect proved to be very useful here. The painting Its mostly in the Frame demonstrates illusion succinctly.
In this exhibition I examine how the frame acts as a portal, a focussing device and most of all how it emphasises the picture plane.
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne (June 2000)
ALIMENTARY ASPECTS
Oil on Canvas. 102cm x 76cm. © Nobby Seymour 1996
Oil on Canvas. 76cm x 107cm. © Nobby Seymour 1996
Oil on Canvas. 3 Panels - 150cm x 241cm. © Nobby Seymour 1997
Oil on Canvas. 63cm x 112cm. © Nobby Seymour 1998
Oil on Canvas. 41cm x 41cm. © Nobby Seymour 1998
Oil on Canvas. 82cm x 61cm. © Nobby Seymour 1998
Oil on Canvas. © Nobby Seymour 1998
Oil on Canvas. 61cm x 56cm. © Nobby Seymour 1996
Oil on Canvas. 41cm x 56cm. © Nobby Seymour 1996
Oil on Canvas. 150cm x 95cm. © Nobby Seymour 1997
Oil on Canvas. 152cm x 76cm. © Nobby Seymour 1998
Oil on Canvas. 95cm x 100cm. © Nobby Seymour 1998
During my years as a mural painter I was restricted, for practical reasons, to using acrylic paint as a medium. It is fast drying and loses a degree of its brightness and texture in drying. In this, my first solo exhibition, I celebrate the comparative lushness of oil paint. Before painting murals full time I had worked in the catering industry as a sous chef (having moved on from architecture). Eventually I became more involved in food presentation, designing banquets and enjoying some work as a food stylist with commercial photographers. This exhibition commemorates that period of my life.
During my years as a mural painter I was restricted, for practical reasons, to using acrylic paint as a medium. It is fast drying and loses a degree of its brightness and texture in drying.
In this, my first solo exhibition, I celebrate the comparative lushness of oil paint. Before painting murals full time I had worked in the catering industry as a sous chef (having moved on from architecture). Eventually I became more involved in food presentation, designing banquets and enjoying some work as a food stylist with commercial photographers.
This exhibition commemorates that period of my life.
William Mora Galleries, Melbourne (July 1998)
Nobby Seymour, born Naracoorte, South Australia in 1944, studied Architecture at Melbourne University. From 1984 to 1996 he painted murals, receiving public and private commissions in Australia and private commissions from Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United States of America. He held his first Solo exhibition in Melbourne in 1998. He currently resides and works in Prahran, Melbourne.
Nobby Seymour, born Naracoorte, South Australia in 1944, studied Architecture at Melbourne University.
From 1984 to 1996 he painted murals, receiving public and private commissions in Australia and private commissions from Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United States of America.
He held his first Solo exhibition in Melbourne in 1998. He currently resides and works in Prahran, Melbourne.
CONTACT ME VIA SNAIL MAIL
Nobby SeymourPO Box 102 PrahranVictoria 3181 Australia
Nobby Seymour
PO Box 102 Prahran
Victoria 3181 Australia
NOBBY SEYMOUR
ARTIST
www.genevarothgalleries.com
© Nobby Seymour 2010
