Shadows of Desire
In recent work, Rosemary Valadon re-engages the still life tradition and the shadows cast by gender roles and stereotypes that upset the easy search for domestic bliss. Here an amazing table ensemble becomes a theatre set for an unsettling feminine eye, rendered with humour and suspended desire.
Her new exhibition, Shadows of Desire, explores the artist’s studio with a deeply personal approach, bringing into focus meaningful objects that furnish Valadon’s life and work within the remote historic town of Hill End in central NSW. As stated by art critic, Bruce James, “Hill End offers Rosemary the perfect venue for this act of artistic revival”. The artist also draws inspiration from her garden, which is renowned in the community for its fruit trees and rose beds, and from the region’s contrasting seasons and extreme climate.
Although her work is strongly autobiographical, Valadon successfully tackles contemporary issues which underpin her experience and views on feminist identity, encompassing archetypes of women in society, stereotypes, mythology and iconic storytelling. Her symbolism reflects an ongoing preoccupation with classical artistic traditions and the role of nature in art, alongside juxtaposing iconography related to violence, death, sex and religion.
WAGNER CONTEMPORARY, Hampden St, Paddington, NSW • T: 02 9360 6069 • M: 0419 251 013
Tuesday-Sunday: 10:30am-6pm • Monday: by appointment
E: Contact Us
Ode to Margery 1
Ode to Margery 2
Ode to Margery 3
Ode to Margery 4
Ode to Margery 5
Please join us on Saturday 18th, 4-6pm, at the Gallery - Wagner Contemporary, 2 Hamden St, Paddington, for this final show of the year. Friends and families welcome. All works are 40 x 40 cm. The exhibition showcases the following artists:
Midnight, oil on canvas, 76 x 60cm
Pina Colada, oil on canvas, 76 x 60cm
Catherine of Aragon, oil on canvas, 76 x 60cm
Dishabille, oil on canvas 76 x 60cm
1 APRIL – 8 MAY 2016
In the tradition of Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston, Rosemary Valadon has reinterpreted a distinctly Australian femininity and domestic aesthetic. This timely survey looks at 25 years of Valadon’s work; from the Goddess, Finding the Feminine and Wicked Women series which reinterpret myths and stereotypes of women, to her latest large-scale still life panoramas that celebrate the rich experience of living in Hill End, where she has been based for over a decade.
A Bathurst Regional Art Gallery exhibition
Wagner Contemporary