ELEMENTS ART GALLERY PROUDLY PRESENTS

Beauties and Beasts

BY SHARON DAWES, GEOFFREY WAKE, ELIZABETH MURRUFFO & CAMPBELLE WHYTE                   

Opening Night: Thursday 14th April 6.30 - 8.30pm

Exhibition through to Sunday 1st May

 

'Beauties & Beasts' exhibition by four Perth artists Sharon Dawes, Geoffrey Wake, Elizabeth Marruffo and Campbell Whyte reference animals in some aspect of every painting, from the obvious to the more cryptic.

Sharon Dawes graduated from Curtin University in 2007 and continues to paint with distinctive clarity in celebration of the physicality and importance of animals ‘My work is centrally focused on capturing the innate character of an individual animal as they align themselves naturally to the concept of beauty or beast.’ With three solo and nineteen group shows to her credit, Dawes’ work is represented in the Curtin University Arts Department Collection and private collections worldwide.

sharon_dawes

'The Beast (Claude)'

Oil on canvas

70 x 70 cm

SOLD

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'The Beauty (Maude)'

Oil on canvas

70 x 70 cm

$1,400

 

Geoffrey Wake has exhibited in almost thirty group shows since his first solo in 1969 and has several awards, in recognition of his practice in abstract conceptual work, including the Mandjar Corporate Art Award 2007. In his new paintings Wake relates to the definition and the sharing of space. Through his line work suggestive of animal forms and the subtle inclusion of symbolic creatures, Wake discusses our experience of territory as desire for both union and borders. His paintings can be found a number of impressive collections including those of the AGWA, UWA, QE Medical Centre, Curtin University as well as Corporate Collections with BHP, Woodside and the National Bank.

geoffrey_wake

'Bastet'

Acrylic on canvas

120 x 100 cm

$4,500

geoffrey_wake

'Horse'

Acrylic on canvas

122 x 118 cm

$4,200

geoffrey_wake

'Cat Mappa'

Acrylic on canvas

160 x 120 cm

$6,000

geoffrey_wake

'Horse'

Acrylic on canvas

122 x 118 cm

$4,200

 

Elizabeth Muffarro graduated from ECU with a BA in Visual Arts in 2006 and has since exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in Perth and Sydney, San Francisco, USA and Oaxaca, Mexico. Her work has been acquired by the Education Department of WA and ECU and was selected for the Blake Prize Directors Cut Exhibition. Strongly influenced by her childhood in a border town of Mexico, Marruffo finds the idea of borders and their attempts to disconnect lands and people contrasts dramatically with her recent experience of motherhood and the profound sense of interconnectedness this brings. Using self portraits in her imagery is a way of ‘seeing yourself from outside yourself which I use to examine this interconnectedness’ Marruffo has returned to study Honors in Visual Arts at Edith Cowan University this year.

beauties_and_beasts

'A Ribbon of Dust & Stars'

Acrylic, pastel, oil on Belgian linen

83 x 83 cm

SOLD

beauties_and_beasts

'Dust Storm 2'

Acrylic, pastel and oil on Belgian linen

83 x 28 cm

SOLD

beauties_and_beasts

'Bunting Hunting'

Acrylic, pastel and oil on Belgian linen

83 x 83 cm

SOLD

beauties_and_beasts

'Moon Dust'

Acrylic, pastel and oil on Belgian linen

83 x 28 cm

SOLD

beauties_and_beasts

'Dust Storm 1'

Acrylic, pastel, oil on Belgian linen

83 x 83 cm

SOLD

beauties_and_beasts

'The Peyote Fore'

Acrylic, pastel, oil on Belgian linen

83 x 28 cm

SOLD

 

Campbell Whyte was the recipient of the 2010 Department of Culture and the Arts, Young People and the Arts Fellowship and tracks a path of civil unrest in his latest exhibition of works. Recently spending time as an artist in residence in Mexico and returning his home city of Perth, Whyte was dismayed to hear of the closing and destruction of various cultural spaces and landmarks. Disturbed by the prevailing community values of consumption and expansion Whyte comments‘ People in Mexico fight tooth and nail for their right to cultural expression while here we are lazy, comfortable and apathetic’. From 2009-2010 Whyte was the chairperson of Free Range Gallery Perth and has exhibited in seven solo shows.

campell_whyte

'Meet Me Tonight'

Oil on Belgian linen

71 x 107 cm

$1,300
 

 

For further information or images of this work please contact Elements Art Gallery manager Deborah Howlett 08 93862000 deborah@elementsartgallery.com.au