9 May – 15 June 2008

JOHN R WALKER: JOURNEY THROUGH LANDSCAPE

 

Click here to read John McDonald's Sydney Morning Herald review

Click here to hear Sean O'Brien's podcast interview with John R Walker

John R Walker - Bedervale 8

Self-knowledge is at the heart of being a modern artist.
Paint the places that you know instinctively and ignore nothing that might deepen your knowledge and understanding of those places. 

John R Walker

 

The National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery presents the first opportunity to examine the landscape oeuvre of John R Walker, one of Australia's foremost painters. Looking at work from the past decade, this exhibition features paintings, gouache and artist books. Major works are on loan from important private & public collections and there are selected works not previously exhibited before this.

John R Walker has immersed himself in the Australian landscape since childhood and is now considered one of the leading practitioners of the genre. Although Walker is a five time Archibald Prize finalist for portraiture, landscape remains his first love.

Since moving from inner west Sydney to the NSW town of Braidwood in 2002, Walker has become deeply engaged with the diverse landscape surrounding the historic town. The seclusion and the natural beauty of the region has inspired artists for generations and increasingly, the area is being called home by a growing group of artists.

Braidwood, the first entire town to be listed on the NSW State Heritage Register, sits on the south-east edge of the Southern Tablelands, surrounded by national parks that offer endless bushwalking trails of changing vegetation, natural sandstone & limestone features, caverns & mountains, stunning views, gullies, roads, drylands, forests & ridges, native flora & fauna.

John R Walker’s passion for bushwalking and his intimate knowledge of the environment allows him to collect a uniquely personal experience on his daily walks and painting trips in the region.  Walker’s colourful & expressive paintings & ink studies present a visual diary of these experiences and observations in the natural environment. However this is an environment that has also been shaped by man. Evidence of the old gold fields, farming, dam-building and fencing practices have all left their mark and Walker’s paintings capture the diversity of the landscape in an eloquently expressive manner.

Walker has also been inspired by Bedervale (1836) an historic grazing property in the Braidwood district, that is closely associated with the National Trust. Bedervale is one of Walker’s favourite painting sites where he has completed many works that evoke the atmospheric nature of the land.

In 2006, John R Walker was invited to participate in the ABC TV’s Painting Australia in which he mentored three emerging artists to challenge their perception of landscape painting and complete a work of art within an allocated timeframe. The popular series went to air in 2007.
Walker often reflects that “landscape is the stage” and invites the audience to “step in” and “have their own experience” with his artwork. He continues to explore the boundaries of his own work, remaining true to himself – painting what he sees and feels and recording how he responds to the environment.
John R Walker has held over twenty five exhibitions in Australia and the United States since 1979.  His work has been included in many important group exhibitions and is held in major public collections & many corporate collections throughout the country. John R Walker is represented by Utopia Art Sydney.

Image: JOHN R WALKER The Dry Dam, Bedervale, 2004, archival oil on canvas 190.5 x 199 cm.  Private Collection.

 

John R Walker - Journey Through Landscape
09 May – 15 June	Exhibition open for public viewing

Public Program of Guest Talks Sundays at 3pm

15 June

DiVerse Poets - Sydney's leading poets group interact and respond to the landscape work of John R Walker, by creating dialogues and conversations through their poetry. For the past two hundred years, a tradition of landscape painting and poetry has existed in Australia but Walker’s powerful and original visions of the landscape have inspired DiVerse to respond with a new voice. For the final day of exhibition, this DiVerse session features poets Margaret Bradstock, Marcelle Freiman, Louise Wakeling,  Sheryl Persson, Paula McKay, Carolyne Bruyn and Robert Kennedy.

                         

National Trust S.H. ERVIN GALLERY	Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney
GALLERY HOURS:	Tuesday - Sunday 11am – 5pm.  Closed Mondays & Public Holidays
EXHIBITION ADMISSION:	$6 / $4 national trust members and concessions
General enquiries & Bookshop mail orders:	PH: 02 9258 0173   shervingallery@nsw.nationaltrust.org.au
PUBLIC PROGRAM:	Guest Speakers Sundays at 3pm
INTRODUCTORY EXHIBITION FLOOR TALKS:	Tuesday at 12 noon
GROUP TOURS:	(10 or more) and school tours welcome.  Bookings essential.
Education Officer:	PH: 02 9258 0122
Media information	PH: 02 9258 0150 lhaynes@nsw.nationaltrust.org.au selected images available for media use only
Trust Café	PH: 02 9258 0175 Bookings Advisable