'Untitled' by Chris Gentle
Bio
2005 - Artist in Residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
2000 - Three months working in Europe: painting and drawing in France,
Spain and Portugal
1990-94 - Senior Lecturer, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
1983
- Three months drawing, painting and photography in Central Australia
1977-86 - Founding director
of the Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1975
- Appointed Senior Lecturer,
Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, Sydney
1969 - Appointed Teacher of Art,
National Art School, Sydney
1968 - Exhibited at the “Young
Contemporaries Exhibition: Sydney
1967 - Exhibited at the “Young
Contemporaries Exhibition: Sydney
1965-67 - Travelled through the West
Indies, USA, Canada and New Zealand before settling in Australia
1958-61 - Studied painting, drawing, sculpture and lithography at the West
Sussex College of Art, UK (NDD, ATD)
1939
- Born, UK
“Christopher
Gentle’s art evokes the beauty and form of a mica specimen – layers of
shimmering mirrors reflecting light, angular planes that confound the eyes
with line upon electric line and solemn dark recesses that compliment and
contrast the final image. Gentle’s meditative process inwardly digests
the decay and renewal of nature and months later makes his marks having
stripped away literal detail. These works are a result of spending last
year as Artist in residence at Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens where he
consolidated his interest in plant forms – especially water lilies and
pond life. Paradoxically using pressed flowers from their research library
he renewed some water lilies in oils, pastel and charcoal. Full circle.
These haunting, mysterious images with their ebb and flow of mark making
frees him ‘from the tyranny of realism’”. Excerpt taken from “In
Good Company” by Margaret Wright, June 2006.
Originally
from the UK, the 66 year-old artist has five paintings in the show of 24.
He has two oil paintings and three pastel drawings in the show and is
disappointed that he cannot attend the Darwin exhibition.
Gentle’s paintings are an amalgamation of experiences from Kakadu
National Park, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney and his own back yard
which features an inspirational pond.
He describes his work as “free from the tyranny of realism”.
For almost 20 years he worked as a senior lecturer at the University of
New South Wales in the College of Fine Arts (formerly the National Arts
School in Sydney) but is now retired.
“Most artists teach because we have to earn a buck somehow,” the
father of a 23 year-old son said.
There is wealth of experience between the artists and they share the love
of line, the instinctive response to colour.
“We all deal with nature in one way or another,” Gentle said.
He said he believes the Australian art scene is very vibrant and healthy.
“Visiting artists always remark on how lively our culture is,” he
said.
“Being so isolated is a positive and a negative – positive because we
just get on with it and negative because we may be artistically better if
we had other influences,” he said.
2005 - “Paper + Plants” – The Red Box Gallery, Sydney
2001 - Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
1999 - “Instinct and the Responsive Mark” – Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
2005
“Works on Paper”, Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney
2004
“Still Life Still Lives”, Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney
2000
“The Drawn Image”, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
“Illawarra
Visions” – Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong
1999
“Sydney Figurative Painters", Hill-Smith Fine Art, Adelaide
“Silver” – Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
“Shifting
Currents” – Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1996
“Three Landscape Artists”, Lake Russell Gallery, Coffs Harbour
Kadumbah Invitation Drawing Award Exhibition- Leura
1995
Group exhibition, “Rocks and Water”, Gallery Savah, Sydney
Kadumbah Invitation Drawing Award Exhibition, Leura
“Three
Painters” – Gallery Petimento, Bathurst
1994
“Lost Valley of the Springs”, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
“Words Are Not Enough” – Solander Gallery, Canberra
1992
“Manu et Mente”, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1988
“Horizons”, BMG Fine Art, Sydney
1987
“Opening Exhibition Sydney”, Bonython Meadmore Gallery, Sydney
1986
“5th Birthday Exhibition”, Gallery 460, Gosford
1985
“Lord Howe Island Art Project”, Stadia Graphics Gallery, Sydney
1973
Arts Council Gallery, Sydney
Winner, Wyong Shire Festival of Arts, Works on Paper Award
Regent
Hotel, Sydney
Lord
Howe Island Art Project
Commonwealth
Bank of Australia
Australian
National Gallery, Canberra
Australian
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Art
Gallery of Queensland
Artbank
New
York Times Collection, New York
IBM Australia
College
of Fine Arts, UNSW
University
of Wollongong
University
of New South Wales
Corporate
and private collections in UK, North America, Europe and Australia