21 March – 13 April 2024
about the exhibition
Canberra artist Derek O’Connor’s dynamic paintings come to life through sumptuous swathes of oil paint paired with energetic brush strokes. His full-bodied abstracted canvases are tantalisingly seductive, as movements of vivid paint melt into one another. Derek is an artist who layers paint, then erases and then paints again – it is this honouring of the paint that gives his works such meaning and power. In his accompanying exhibition statement Derek explains his relationship to painting, “It always comes back to where you live, which in the Painter’s case encloses the practice of painting. Yet Canberra’s endless blue skies and vivid natural surroundings go on seemingly not to care, just like the world. We are constantly being made and unmade. What if the Painter could transpose this notion to painting, which after all is a repository of human enterprise?” Whilst many of his works appear spontaneous and dynamic, they are products of a contemplative and gradual process of layering and waiting, allowing for the abstracted forms to slowly emerge. This highly intellectual and intimate process produces works that engage the viewer on many levels. A notion echoed by art historian and critic, Sasha Grishin, who contends that the power of Derek’s paintings lay in their ability to “first seduce the eye and then engage the mind in a slow journey of contemplation and meditation”.
Born in Warwickshire, England in 1957, Derek moved to Australia in 1969 and now lives and works in Canberra. He graduated from the Canberra School of Art with a BA (Visual Arts) before completing further study at the University of Tasmania School of Art in 1992. Since graduating, he has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally. In 2017, Derek’s achievements were celebrated in ‘At home he’s a tourist’, an exhibition held by the Canberra Contemporary Art Space. This comes a decade after the Canberra Museum and Gallery presented ‘Derek O’Connor: 10 year survey’, a major exhibition curated by Mark Van Veen honouring the artist’s career. In 2022, Derek was awarded the Calleen Art Award, an acquisitive prize for the Cowra Regional Art Gallery collection. He was the recipient of the Canberra Contemporary Art Space Inaugural Art Prize in 2003 and the CAPO Fellowship Award in 2007. Derek is also a regular finalist in significant art prizes throughout Australia including the Blake Prize, the Mossman Art Prize and the Arthur Guy Memorial Art Prize. His works are held in several prominent collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
