‘IT GOT DARK SO QUICKLY’ – Fiona Barrett-Clark
1 – 12th July 2020
EXHIBITION LAUNCH ONLINE
Wednesday 1st July, 6pm onwards
CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE VIEWING ROOM
Saint Cloche is excited to reveal It Got Dark So Quickly, a new body of work from emerging Australian contemporary landscape painter, Fiona Barrett-Clark. This will be Fiona’s second solo show at the gallery, following on from her sold out show ‘Quietly Into The Night’ in 2019.
Fiona’s work seeks to awaken people to the glory of what might seem ordinary and occurs in the everyday – yet is actually quite precious. We are often too busy and rushed to notice, however as we come to grips with a new reality since COVID-19, most of us are getting a rare opportunity to slow down enough to not only notice these priceless moments, but also appreciate and revel in them. Silver-linings, they call them.
“When the night begins to fall, suburban streets lose their wholesome nature and become quiet, empty and eerie. We rush into our cocoons, closed off from the outside world, scared of what is in the darkness. So often in our haste, we miss the descending sun and the kaleidoscope of colours that transform the sky. Sharp black lines silhouette our houses, the leaves of the trees, telegraph poles and the shards of light emanate from windows and street lights that pierce the darkness. Everything is contrasting, heightened, dark and bright. I want people to notice this and embrace it as the most beautiful part of the day.
Usually when I walk in the early evenings, the streets are vacant. In recent months, as our world is turned sideways and our homes have become more than just our nightly cocoons, people are venturing out to breathe the night air, watch the bats fly overhead and the streets are a little less empty. We have been reminded that there are bigger things in the world and now the dark suburban streets don’t seem so scary.”
– Fiona Barrett-Clark
Fiona’s paintings reflect the beauty of an unassuming and unexaggerated Australian landscape, void of people, but not always the spectre of humanity’s presence. She particularly focusses in on the twilight sky, in these works – the prismatic colours and cloud formations as the day’s light fades, tinges of pinks, mauves, greys, blues and orange.
The works conjure up the melancholy of that ‘magic-hour’ time of day; it’s about memory, fleeting moments and sometimes an assortment of memories colliding. It’s about kindling a memory to evoke a visceral, sensory response in the viewer.
The works are on plywood instead of board or canvas to give a grainy texture to the paintings which permeate them with the old-world feel of vintage slides or photographs, adding to the resonant nature of the work.
Fiona is based in Sydney and has been exhibiting for 2 decades. She was most recently a finalist in the 2019 Hawkesbury Art Prize.
EXHIBITION LAUNCH ONLINE
Wednesday 1st July, 6pm onwards
CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE VIEWING ROOM
CATALOGUE
Click to view Catalogue & Price List (1.8 Mb PDF)