King Street Gallery on William - Amanda Penrose Hart & John Turier

Be prepared for melodic farts and banana stuffed gnomes... These 2 shows are funny with works that make you interact and smirk...

How could anybody not like John Turier’s work, it’s light hearted and heavily serious at the same time and I’ve loved it from the first time I laid eyes on it. From those early bronze sculptures that people are still talking about and does anyone remember that giant drawing wheel from his last show... WOW!!! So my favourite’s from ‘Button & Box’ would have to be... all of them, sorry well most of them!!!

‘Christo’s first toy teddy (Garry)’, button, leather, cloth, string and wood, how can you go past this one. ‘Devil on my roof’, aluminum, canvas, timber, steel and reed, love these sounds, they make me want to cry and cry out loud. ‘Red note’, velum, pencil, steel, aluminum, timber and horn, this brings back sweet memories. ‘Epiphany’, timber, canvas, steel and reeds, with it’s melodic fart and if I were rich I’d have all the buttons too and lie them down on the floor in a cascade of buttons...

It’s all a play on feelings and how you feel an object that makes either a sound like a melodic fart or the last sorrowful cry of a lost animal... Don’t be afraid to turn the handle!!!

For as long as I have known Amanda I’ve loved her work, I have 7 of her works in my collection through swaps and gifts and wish I had more...

‘Going somewhere?’ oil on canvas, is a dark and brooding work and I’m a little bit worried about the gnomes in the back. ‘Robbed’ oil on canvas, it’s a common occurrence in the bush. ‘Over the hill’ oil on canvas, an uncommon occurrence is colour in Amanda’s work, especially a beautiful blue sky, so when you get to see it it’s a bit of an extra treat. I really love how the surface of the work looks like it’s been applied with a trowel and not your average pallet knife...

‘Toogoolawah 1,2,3 & 4’, oil on board, Toogoolawah means black snake and is the name of her property at Sofala and was also the name given by her father to the house Amanda grey up in. ‘Dawn’ oil on canvas, with it’s sweeping paint strokes and early light, the caravan looks like it’s blowing away...

I love Sofala and the surrounding area’s, but I have only been to Amanda’s property once, but when your out there it’s a whole new environment. The air is clearer and it’s so quiet.. The perfect studio!!!

Written by Fleur

3rd May - 28th May 2011
www.kingstreetgallery.com.au