20 June – 7 July 2019
about the exhibition
Crispin Akerman has earned a significant reputation for the elegant simplicity and fine balance he achieves within his favoured genre of still life painting. He uses a timeless vocabulary of domestic items such as ceramics, fruit, drapery and enamelware as well as native Australian flora to capture a sense of quiet contemplation, history and beauty. While the works are largely observational, the arrangement of the objects is highly constructed over underlying geometries, allowing for the exploration of harmony, balance, tension, light and atmosphere. His paintings explore their intimate nature in a non-specific location. The elements of this genre that Crispin finds so interesting are “the contemplative potential in it, the suggestion of the kinetic in the static, the metaphysical promise present in the very words, still life”. The use of colour to achieve mood and harmony has been a particular focus in this exhibition.
Born in England, Crispin Akerman came to Australia with his family in 1966. He spent many years in the music industry but decided in 1989 to pursue his lifelong interest in the visual arts. He received a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Canberra School of Art in 1992 and has since received significant recognition for his painting. Crispin’s first solo exhibition was held at Beaver Galleries in 1995 and his popularity has gone from strength to strength with each exhibition. Crispin’s paintings are represented in the collections of Artbank, Parliament House, BHP Billiton, the Australian National University, St John of God Hospital – Murdoch, Canberra Eye Hospital, City of Bunbury and the Town of Bassendean.
