7 – 24 May 2020
about the exhibition
Graham Fransella is a painter, printmaker and sculptor who continues to explore the figure and the landscape – themes that have remained constant over his extensive career. Strong black strokes trace the outlines of figures, so stripped of detail that they become symbolic and reminiscent of pictograms or graffiti. His prints and paintings are richly layered gestural works that explore the relationship between presence and absence, working on many levels without being contrived and with a spontaneity that invites interpretation by the viewer. His charismatic mark-making is the distillation of several decades of draughtsmanship and, what may at first appear to be simple lines and primitive figures, are sophisticated, multi-layered abstractions. For Graham, the creative process informs the conceptual content of his work through the randomness and freedom of mark making. This exhibition, of prints and gouache paintings, is informed by his travels in Australia and numerous sketchbook studies. As Graham says “this body of work embraces a freewheeling approach to picture-making, employing spontaneity, chance and gesture. They have a strong sense of attack, urgency, risk, energy and a disregard for pre-ordained outcome”. Ultimately these works, through the skill and experience of the artist, arrive at a successful resolution.
Graham Fransella has had over fifty solo shows across Australia as well as Europe. He has been exhibiting with Beaver Galleries since 1993, including eight solo exhibitions and representation at the Melbourne Art Fair. His work has been selected for the Archibald, Wynne, Sulman and Dobell Drawing Prizes at the Art Gallery of NSW and he has won the Trustees Watercolour Prize five times, most recently in 2011. Graham’s work is represented in many public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, Parliament House and Artbank.
Please note, due to the many restrictions caused by Covid-19, we have made the difficult decision to present these vibrant works to you only online. Graham has been working on this show for the last 12 months and rather than postpone it entirely we are delighted to still be sharing it with you. Please note that framed pricing has been provided for the works but all editioned prints are also available unframed.
