Press Release: Madeleine Winch

Madeleine Winch (b.1950)
Scenes from Life
Opening Saturday 24 October 2009,6-8PM
To be opened by Her Excellency Professor Marie Beshir AC CVO
Governor of New South Wales

Eva Breuer Art Dealer is pleased to announce the opening of Madeleine Winch’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, Scenes from Life 2009, on Saturday 24 October. The exhibition will be officially opened by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales.

Observing the unspoken emotions of everyday life remains the essence of Madeleine Winch's work. The figures in her current paintings, such as Thoughts Afar, Inner World and Soliloquy 2009 are portrayed in a more probing light, and are self questioning, contemplating new chapters in life. The "balancing act" has changed, from one of juggling the responsibilities of career, family, and motherhood, to the dilemmas of intimacy and solitude. The domestic interiors echo the inner world providing a sanctuary; a place to reflect on love and loss; to reassess and embrace the future.

Madeleine Winch has an extensive exhibition history both within Australia and internationally, in countries such as France, New Zealand and the United States of America. Madeleine Winch is represented in the following New South Wales collections: Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, Orange Regional Gallery, New England Regional Gallery, Australia Post and Macquarie University, Sydney.

Press: Valadon - Sydney Morning Herald

Artist Statment: Christopher McVinish

Christopher McVinish
Re-imagining the world...

The writer Ian McEwan has said that novelists 'prowl along the borders between the invented and the actual'. The same could be said for the painter Christopher McVinish.

McVinish hunts for fragments of urban life out of which he conjures another reality.
While the genre of Contemporary Realism may sometimes distance the viewer with a cool lucidity, McVinish's work is inclusive, inviting us to speculate about the ambiguous situations he presents, at the same time reminding us of aspects of everyday life taken for granted. In doing so, he showcases the commonplace as special and suffused with potential.

Characteristic of these works is a certain stillness. These are elegant works even while they deal with the grit of our urban environment. McVinish's paintings can imply a vague feeling of disquiet, occasionally even a sense of loss - yet never a loss of hope. McVinish peoples his paintings with survivors, thinkers and observers. The suggestion of a separate reflective interior life appears to be as much the painter's intention as any relationship to 'place'. A fascination with weather assists with establishing the mood of a work, and this too often demands to be read as metaphor for a protagonist's thoughts.

But perhaps the most arresting feature common to these works is that time feels more than simply suspended - it's as if a fleeting abstract moment is continuing, like a musical note sustained.

Ideas and motifs are allowed to hover (sometimes for years) before their moment of coalescence seems 'right'. McVinish's painting methodology involves numerous time-consuming applications of paint and glazes which result not only in a substantial illusion of depth but appear to achieve the remarkable feat of painting what can't be seen, namely air itself: a palpable volume of space is created around things in the picture plane.

Intriguingly oblique, these are visual stories which linger in the mind and show us contemporary life as a kind of half-remembered dream.

Artist Spotlight: Michael Muir

Who (or what) do you consider your artistic inspiration?

I have a number of artists whose work I admire Mark Rothko, Paddy Bedford, Jeffrey Smart and Francis Bacon.

Do you listen to music while you work, and if so, what is most often playing?

Have a fairly eclectic taste in music I normally hit shuffle on the ipod otherwise FBI radio is great.

Who of your peers do you respect the most?

All peers who have been committed and persistent with their chosen fields

Do you have any habits/rituals or strange superstitions when painting?

no rituals time is precious

When did you decide to become an artist?

I decided whilst working as a desktop publisher for a fashion mag in the Phillippines when I was 21. Not a big fan of offices or computers!

What is your favourite colour?

Favourite colour at the moment is cadmium yellow.

Do you have a favourite painting or work of art? If so, what is it?

Of the top of my head favourite paintings change all the time John Passmore jumping horse mackerel.

Press Release: Rosemary Valadon

Rosemary Valadon (b.1947)
Euphoria; The Tea Party
Opening Saturday 17 October 2009, 3-5PM

Eva Breuer Art Dealer is pleased to announce the opening of exhibition of new paintings by Rosemary Valadon, Euphoria; The Tea Party. The lush works depict richly painted floral teacups, and centre around the pleasures, comfort and ceremony of drinking tea.

Valadon has taken her inspiration for these works from a source most would consider disheartening rather than uplifting – the recent economic downturn. The half full/half empty cups invite the viewer to discover if they view the world in an optimistic or pessimistic way, while in some of the works such as Gypsy Rose the cups themselves seem to jut out of the picture plane, suggesting that one could jump into them and drown their sorrows. The richness of the exteriors of cups of Euphoria, American Beauty and Arcadia, amongst others, provide an antidote to recessional thinking, a quiet moment of lush beauty and excess. And, as the economy picks up, and spring arrives, the lone piece of lemon (which sometimes appears in the cup) is being joined by various spring blossoms – pear, apple, and nectarine.

Valadon, herself an indulgent tea drinker, has included teacups in her paintings for years and has always loved beautiful china. After commencing this series Valadon has been loaned and given favourite cups from many of her friends and family.

Rosemary Valadon’s works are held in numerous public and corporate collections around the country including that of the National Portrait Gallery, Macquarie University, Muswellbrook Art Prize Collection and BHP Billiton. She has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize, Sulman Prize and Mosman Art Prize multiple times, and has won the Portia Geach Memorial Award and Blake Religious Art Prize.

Press Release: Sam Wade

Samuel Wade (b.1979)
New Paintings
Opening Saturday 17 October 2009, 3-5PM

Following three successful exhibitions and his award of the Brett Whiteley Scholarship in 2006, Eva Breuer Art Dealer is pleased to announce the opening of Sam Wade's New Paintings 2009. This suite of recent paintings marks a return for the artist to the urban environment, the source of inspiration behind the artist’s first and second solo shows with Eva Breuer Art Dealer.

Wade explains his interest in the urban environment this way: “It interests me that the vast majority of Australians live in urban areas, yet historically we seem to have relatively few figurative painters of note who regularly reflect on this common experience.”

The works seek to recreate fleeting moments on station platforms or city parks. Wade uses the techniques learnt in his traditional art training to create these images, constructing a dialogue between commonplace existence and artistry. The iconic figures of mother and child or a figure exuding pre-Raphaelite beauty may appear on a station platform, for instance. Special care in the portrayal of atmosphere and time of day acknowledges the legacy of the impressionists, while the introspective possibilities offered by the tradition of portraiture are also explored.

Samuel Wade was the recipient of the Le Gay Brereton Drawing Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2001, the Alice Bale Traveling Scholarship in 2002, the Brett Whiteley Traveling Art Award in 2006 and was a finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and Mosman Art Prize in 2009. Wade has also taught at the Julian Ashton Art School since 1998 where he was the youngest ever teacher.

Press: Cassab & Seed - The Australian Jewish News