The Watch House’s original purpose was to lock up petty criminals and upon entering this building I was prepared to expect small rooms, there are three small rooms and one large room, a small courtyard and a darling little backyard, perfect setting for a Gallery. No sign of doom and gloom, I noticed a few holes in the walls and imagined an inmate scratching away at the wall in hope of an escape, but the walls are awfully think and I think he’d still be there if he hadn’t been released.
The drawing by Linda McGowan of her mother is beautiful, a delicate interpretation of a mothers love quietly hanging on the stone wall overseeing her daughters somewhat erratic love for repetitive surface texture. Although the two small works of a child either side of the mother are in the direction of what I think Linda should be going, these two works are strong and pretty damn good, I’d like to see more of these, they are like two sides of a story, dark and light (good and evil) but both compelling.
Natalie Fallon was telling me that she has an insatiable appetite for colour and can’t wait to get the paint onto the brush, love that, a sense of urgency, but doesn’t show in her work, I found a calmness within her landscapes, a deep respect for colour and placement. These works were easy to look at as they reminded me of my childhood looking at all those wonderful Abstrationist’s and a little bit of nowadays Idris Murphy.
I understand that this is the first ‘Solo’ for each of these Artist’s, but the old adage ‘Less is More’ should have prevailed and hanging at a generic eye level would have also been appreciated. This location for the ‘first Solo’ should have been for a bit longer as three days is just too short for anyone to really appreciate the amount of angst and love that has gone into putting up this show.
Fleur MacDonald
26th July - 28th July 2013
The Balmain Watch House Gallery 179 Darling Street, Balmain, Sydney 10am – 4pm
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