Whether it is the confrontational gaze of the model, the scene and the lone figure or a scene loaded with urban landmarks or pastoral bliss, Stewart MacFarlane’s work is distinctive and mature. A painter of 40 years in more or less the same genres, he continues to reinvent his techniques and the nuances that he has developed within it.
MacFarlane’s work is embodied, in his words as “diary entries of my experiences, current situations, physical locations and mind spaces”. His current exhibition, painted in the last fourteen months, is grounded in two locations, South Australia and New Mexico. For example, the background in Lantern is the corner of Rundle and Pulteney Streets, a well known hangout, iconic to residents of Adelaide, together with small paintings in a variety of other locations in South Australia.
The scenes from New Mexico are a direct response to the streetscape and houses of the town of Roswell of 50,000 inhabitants. Roswell, has a history for MacFarlane, who first painted there as an artist-in-residence in 1988. The inhabitants of Roswell come from varied backgrounds and cultures and the houses in this town have a personality and a mood which reflects this. Not only are the houses of interest but a motel with classic 50’s signage is also a focus of one of his works.
An exhibition that spans two continents and two cultures is reflective of MacFarlane’s life story. A born and bred Australian but a frequent resident of the United States, his influences include American artists Edward Hopper and Alex Katz as well as Australian influences such as Charles Blackman, David Boyd and Sidney Nolan. His work represents a unique cross-cultural aesthetic.
Whilst MacFarlane’s body of work has encompassed different countries and different mindsets, the rendering of the nude has been a mainstay in his career. MacFarlane says: “Drawing and painting the nude has been a constant in my life since I was sixteen. The first time I was confronted with a live nude in art class I was terrified. I was a pimply, inexperienced teenager in front of an attractive, naked woman. I still remember how she looked. I had no idea how to deal with my embarrassment. I just had to focus and put pencil to paper. Forty years later it isn’t much different but the pimples have gone”.
This quote, from his newly published monograph Stewart MacFarlane ‘paintings’ gives us a window into his life as an artist. The book is a well-produced catalogue of his works over the years, as well as providing an insightful biography.
Viewing MacFarlane’s ‘Second Sight’ is a painters’ delight. It is a show of full and powerful works reflecting a painter’s commitment to his art and its expressive qualities.
Australian Galleries Roylston Street
18 June to 7 July, 2013
Sydney
Stuart MacFarlane in his studio
Lantern, 2013, oil on canvas
Courtesy the artist and Australian Galleries, Sydney
