“...Born in Ouyen in country Victoria, Drendel often furnishes his eclectic imagery with pointers to his upbringing. In an environment where wheat silos were the only object to break up a landscape, to an artist they become sculptural in essence, adding a certain style to the landscape with their great poise and strangeness. ...Expansive rural plains and romantic Australian skies serve to restore a sense of calm and grandeur to the compelling nature of Drendel’s urban social commentary.”
Stance, expression and body language also provide significant keys to these drama-laced works, with many figures performing pompous and superficial gestures, often with their heads facing the viewer, or in a curious three-quarter turn akin to Manet and Lucien Freud. Whether dancing around each other, smiling and laughing or providing animated conversation, they engage with each other only on the surface in a poignant display of self-imposed isolation.”
Drendel works from his mind’s eye, with a view to capturing a freshness and vitality that is not always achievable from a pre-planned methodology. He wrestles with his characters as they begin to unfold on the canvas, manipulating and reconstructing accordingly until he is satisfied with the result. Enjoying the challenge of shifting figures around the canvas in transitional poses, he harnesses the rhythm of this approach to inspire his characters with the energy, health, beauty and vigour they radiate.”
Graeme Drendel: Quests for companionship
Caroline Field
Australian Galleries
Painting & Sculpture Melbourne
35 Derby Street
Collingwood, Melbourne
Victoria Australia 3066
T +61 (03) 9417 4303
F +61 (03) 9419 7769
Australian Galleries
Painting and Sculpture Sydney
15 Roylston Street
Paddington, Sydney
NSW Australia 2021
T +61 (02) 9360 5177
F +61 (02) 9360 2361
Australian Galleries
50 Smith Street
Collingwood, Melbourne
Victoria Australia 3066
T +61 (03) 9417 0800
F +61 (03) 9417 0699
Australian Galleries
24 Glenmore Road
Paddington, Sydney
NSW Australia 2021
T +61 (02) 9380 8744
F +61 (02) 9380 8755
Visit the Australian Galleries website
Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley BC
QLD 4006 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3254 1855
Facsimile +61 7 3254 1745
Visit the Jan Murphy Gallery website
Beaver Galleries
81 Denison Street
Deakin
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Visit the Beaver Galleries website
If you would like further information or would like to be notified of up coming exhibitions please contact any of the galleries above.
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