Last week, Mr Nigel Relph, Deputy Vice Chancellor International and Advancement at the University of South Australia presented Mr Sydney Ball an honorary degree of Doctor of the University. Following the presentation, Dr Ball delivered the address to the graduates of the School of Art, Architecture and Design.
The honorary degree of Doctor of the University is awarded to a person of eminence who has made a distinguished contribution to public service or a field of academic endeavour. This great honour was awarded in 2011 to Dr Jeffrey Smart and recognises Ball`s significant contribution to the progression of abstract expressionism in Australian contemporary art.
Sydney Ball, who is widely considered a pioneer in Australian Abstraction, was born in Adelaide in 1933. Ball`s long and impressive career has had a formidable impact on Australian art. Definitively a colourist, Ball spent his formative years living and studying in New York at the Art Students League under Theodoros Stamos, one of the `irascible eighteen`, which also included Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.
