From the late 1980s through the 90s, Ian Gentle’s famously cluttered studio in the old School of Arts building at Clifton, south of Sydney, was the birthplace of a multitude of works, including sculptures often described as drawings “growing off the wall.”
“Gentle worked primarily with eucalyptus sticks collected in the forests of the Illawarra Escarpment. From these he created distinctive, witty, elegant works that reference native birds and animals in abstracted, almost skeleton-like forms. They are both raw and sophisticated, revealing an appreciation of Japanese aesthetics and a love of nature combined with minimalist restraint,” describes writer Caroline Baum.
Ian Gentle, Spinning Spider, 2008, eucalyptus wood, 100 × 80cm. Photograph: Guy Freer Back. Courtesy Clifton School of Arts, New South Wales
From 2 December to 3 March 2024, The Gentle Project celebrates the life and legacy of Gentle, who lived and worked in the Illawarra region from 1986–2009, with exhibitions at Wollongong Art Gallery: Horny Sticks and Whispering Lines, a comprehensive survey of Gentle’s artistic output, including prints, sketches, installations, and sculptural works; and A Gentle Response, showing past and new work by artists who were inspired or impacted by their relationship with Gentle. Clifton School of Arts presents Gentle at Clifton, an immersive recreation of the artist’s studio at its original site, using video and audio recordings, still images, artworks, diaries, memorabilia, and found objects to create an interactive and multi-sensory experience that reflects on, and responds to this extraordinary artist. This is accompanied by a short film featuring stories from Gentle’s friends and colleagues, including artists Paul Ryan, Ivor Fabok and centenarian Guy Warren.
A new publication, Ian Gentle: The Found Line, extends the storytelling with Gentle’s students, colleagues, peers, and family recounting their experiences of his unconventional life and work. Gentle’s voice is also heard through notes he made about his own practice and interaction with the artworld of his day.
