• All the pleasures of the Garden

ALL THE PLEASURES OF THE GARDEN

~ What is ordinary to some is extraordinary to others

ALL THE PLEASURES OF THE GARDEN

Category Archives: PUBLIC ART

APHK PHOTOGRAPHY – July 2020: Retrospective

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in 21st CENTURY ART, abstracts, Adelaide, ANIMALS, ART, ART GALLERIES, Australia, Australian Art, AUSTRALIAN FILM, AUSTRALIAN HISTORY, BEACHES, BLACK & WHITES, HISTORY, IMPRESSIONISM, PARKS & GARDENS, PEOPLE, PHOTOGRAPHY, POLITICS, PUBLIC ART, SALA, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY, STREET ART, TONY'S TOURS - Travel Journal, TRAVEL, TRAVELING IN AUSTRALIA, TREES, Uncategorized, VINEYARDS

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abstracts, Adelaide, Adelaide Hills, ANIMALS, ART, Australia, Australian Art, COVID-19, Fleurieu Peninsular, ISOLATION, LANDSCAPE, MEDITATION, PHOTOGRAPHY, Port Willunga, SEASCAPES, South Australia, SUNSETS, TRAVEL

ABSTRACTS - CROSSES IN THE SEACrucifixes – Rapid Bay, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

INTRODUCTION – JULY 2020

July is mid-Winter in Australia; it also the 7th month that we all having been dealing with the various challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequently, many of the following photographs are reflections of these times. This July retrospect is divided into number of seperate categories; these include – ‘Abstracts’, ‘Black & White’, ‘Landscapes’, ‘Night’, ‘Seascapes’, and ‘Sunsets’. It also includes selected photographs from on-going series – ‘Pareidolia’ and ‘In the Time of Self-Isolation’. As always, behind each photography is my desire ‘to make the ordinary “Extraordinary”!’

ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACT - WalpurgisnachtWalpurgisnacht – Windy Peak, Adelaide Hills, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This was taken one wild, windy, and rainy night at Windy Peak in the Adelaide Hills. The photograph is associated with my ‘Pareidolia’ series in that the wooden posts and the trees seemed to become in this cold weather strange spectral creatures, coming together as if to celebrate ‘Walpurgisnacht’.

IMPRESSIONISM - After KlimtReflections – Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This was taken in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and is of the reflection of a canopy of leaves from willow trees overhanging one of the ponds in the garden. There is a deliberate ‘impressionism’ influence, particularly Monet, but also a ‘post-impressionism’ feel as one finds in some of the works by Klimt.

ABSTRCTS - SHEET METAL 1Sheet-Metal Wall in a Sunset Light – Penny’s Hill Vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This striking ‘detail’ of a section of the sheet-metal wall of the Penny’s Hill Vineyard Cellar-door took on a golden radiance and sheen under a setting winter sun.

IMPRESSIONISM - Behind the LinesBehind the Lines – Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

Following a theme and subject matter of ‘lines’, this is a detail of a section of glass fountain in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The reflection in the glass is from the water in front of this sheet of corrugated glass, which in turn reflects the cloud in the sky above. These multiple reflections give and added depth to the image; in the centre there is a kind of ‘pareidolia’ with a figure that seems to be peeping through the curtain of glass.

ABSTRACTS - THROUGH A WINDOW - The ChildThrough a Window: The Child – Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This photograph was taken at the same glass fountain in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It is also part of the on-going series – ‘Through a Window’. These ‘windows’ are portals; when one gazes through these ‘windows’ one can see and imagine a number of imaginative possibilities.

HOPE - THE RAINBOWThe Rainbow – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

The rainbow is a symbol of Hope, which is what is vitally needed in these challenging times.

ABSTRACTS -Two PolesBPoles Apart – Rapid Bay, South Australia (Sony LICE-7)

These two poles are part of the old ruined jetty at Rapid Bay. Whilst beautiful in themselves there is a relatively tragic dimension. It is as if these two poles are lovers who yearn to be together but will be forever apart, able to see each other but never to touch.

ABSTRACT - Sniffing out Out LeadsModern Times: Sniffing out Leads – Windy Peak, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This ‘abstract’ is a satiric metaphor of modern business. With virtually everything moving to be on-line the relative ‘positivism’ and optimism of modern business from a certain perspective seems to have become rather desperate in sniffing out potential leads and ways to make money, at a time when most people don’t have much money to spare.

BLACK & WHITE

PEOPLE - DancingIn the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: The Dancer – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

On one of my walks around Port Willunga, from the cliffs above I glanced down to the beach below and saw this young woman. She was dancing in the surf with the setting sun – an expression of freedom in this time of ‘self-isolation’.

_1210271aIn the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: On the Phone – Port Willunga (Sony ILCE-7)

How many times during these challenging days have we seen this? A person sitting alone on their mobile phone. I saw this young man on his mobile phone and also noticed how his surrounding, particularly the iron fence seemed to box him in, adding to the sense of ‘isolation’.

Little Hampton School 2The Old School House – Littlehampton, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

On a day trip to the small South Australian rural town of Littlehampton we stopped to visit the old sandstone Schoolhouse, which had been built in the 1860s. At one time this country school had over 60 students all crammed into this tiny school house. It has been beautifully preserved and restored by the local community.

AUSTRALIAN ROMANTICISM 1 - The Winter TreeThe Winter Tree – Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This marvellous old tree sits on a little island in the middle of one of the ponds in the garden. It has a ‘pareidolia’ aspect that is perhaps more noticeable in Winter when all its leaves are gone – a fantastical tree creature.

AUSTRALAIN ROMANTICISM - Murdoch AvenueMurdoch Avenue – Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

‘Murdoch Avenue’ is one of the most magical parts of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. I have deliberately put a sepia filter over this photograph to complement the charming nature of this location.

LANDSCAPES

PENNY HILL'SVINEYARDPenny’s Hill Vineyard – McLaren Vale, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

‘Penny’s Hill Vineyard’ in the McLaren Vale is about 1hrs drive south of Adelaide. It is one of the oldest vineyards in the region and is very ‘English’. This is exemplified by the old sandstone Georgian main-house, as well as these ‘black-faced’ Suffolk sheep.

NIGHT

AUSTRALIAN ROMANTICISM - Adelaide 2Adelaide @ Night – Adelaide Hills, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This was taken one cold July at Mt. Observation in the Adelaide Hills, which gives one a wonderful view of the Adelaide Plain and the Adelaide CBD. It is a very ‘romantic’ view of Adelaide, yet also one that has resonance with photos of Los Angeles.

PAREIDOLIA

‘Pareidolia’ is that unique aspect of the human imagination in which one sees faces in natural and man-made objects. The following photographs are part of an on-going series devoted to the human phenomena of ‘pareidolia’, which is something we all share in common – a thing that unites us as human beings rather than divides us.

peeping truckThe peeping truck – Port Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

It is as if this truck is peeping at you as it passes over a concrete bridge in Port Adelaide. This photograph has been deliberately manipulated to give it a kind of ‘pop art’ feeling and tone.

DSC00749bCrocodile Logs – Old Noarlunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

These two logs sit in the Onkaparinga River near Old Noarlunga, a small rural town about 40 minutes south of Adelaide. Crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge over the Onkaparinga River I noticed these two logs. They looked like two crocodiles lying in the shallow water, which reflected the hills towering above the river.

P1110377HThe grumpy rock – Christies Beach, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This is part of a spectacular cliff face at Christies Beach on the Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia. It struck me that this particular section looked like a grumpy old man – hence the title – ‘the grumpy rock’.

ELEPHANT ROCKaElephant Rock – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This rock face at the base of a cliff at the northern end of Port Willunga beach struck as looking a bit like and old elephant.

PEOPLE: In the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’

The following photographs are part of an on-going series entitled In the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’. This is an attempt to chronicle as well as express the sense of bafflement and isolation that is very much a part of the challenges of these days when confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic.

IN THE TIME OF SELF-ISOLATION - MemeIn the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: Meme – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

This a photograph of my friend Meme with whom I often go for morning walks along Port Willunga beach and other locations in the region.

P1110442DIn the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: The Walker – Christies Beach, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

At times the effect of living with the Covid-19 pandemic seems rather surreal. Despite the very real threat and with certain restrictions, nonetheless, here in South Australia we are relatively safe and free to move around – and in such a beautiful place even in mid-Winter.

P1110389In the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: Searching the Sands – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

I saw this young girl searching the sands on the Port Willunga beach one sunset. I don’t know what she was searching for but she was quite focused if rather frantic. It struck me as rather metaphoric and symbolic of how we are all trying to find answers but finding it all rather baffling – searching for answers in the sand.

DSC01048In the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: Red Hoody and Stormy Seas – Rapid Bay, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

On a rather wild and stormy day I went to Rapid Bay, which is about a 90 minutes drive south of Adelaide. At the end of the pier there was this young boy looking out on the rather turbulent sea. This also struck me a rather metaphorical and emblematic of these times. Gazing out to sea may bring some solace sometimes, but it can also express our bafflement and anxiety in these stormy days.

SEASCAPES

The following photographs are part of an on-going series of ‘Seascapes’, primarily from the Onkaparinga region. This includes Aldinga Beach, Port Willunga, Maslin Beach, Port Noarlunga, and Christies Beach – and more.

PORT WILLUNGA - WINTER SUNRISEThe Morning Walk – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

DSC00834On a Winter’s Day #1 – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

PORT WILLUNGA - WINTER.jpgOn a Winter’s Day #2 – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

PORT WILLUNGA - The FishermenFishing – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

DSC00855oCormorant and Ruins – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

DSC00965 2A Foggy Day – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

DSC01128 copyRapid Bay – Fleurieu Peninsular, Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

SUNSETS

It somehow seems appropriate with the ending of mid-Winter and also the seeming end of so much that we may have taken for granted due to the Covid-19 pandemic that this July 2020 retrospective fishes with ‘Sunsets’. These are from a number of locations, including Mt Observation, Port Willunga, and Penny’s Hill Vineyard.

BarrelaThe Barrel – Penny’s Hill Vineyard, McLaren Vale (Sony ILCE-7)

after rothko 2aSunset (after Rothko #1) – Port Willunga, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

AFTER ROTHKO - Port Adelaide.jpgSunset – Port Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

AFTER ROTHKO - AdelaideSunset (after Rothko #2) – Adelaide, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

If you have come this far – THANK YOU.

Just one more, which is a bit of a self-portrait. I saw this piece of ‘Street Art’ at Christies Beach where I was picking up some medication for the local chemist for my tinnitus. I wasn’t feeling the best, not just because of the tinnitus, which is just annoying, but for the fact that after applying for numerous jobs I didn’t get any – only one interview and that wasn’t very pleasant.  I connected with this torn and damaged piece of ‘street art’. I took a photo of a section and then later played around with it – this is the result.

UnknownIn the Time of ‘Self-Isolation’: Torn & Twisted Self-Reflection – Christies Beach, South Australia (Sony ILCE-7)

Tony Knight – July 2020 (c.)

TONY’S TOURS: The Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

30 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in Adelaide, ART, ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia, BEACHES, HISTORY, PARKS & GARDENS, PHOTOGRAPHY, PUBLIC ART, South Australia, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY, STREET ART, TONY'S TOURS - Travel Journal, TRAVEL, TRAVEL JOURNEY, TRAVELING IN AUSTRALIA, Uncategorized, VINEYARDS

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australia, MOVIES, PHOTOGRAPHY, South Australia, TRAVEL

P1080447

INTRODUCTION

The Fleurieu Peninsular extends to the immediate south-east of Adelaide. It was named in honour of Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu who was French explorer, by Nicholas Baudin when he was exploring the region in 1802. The name ‘Claret’ seems rather prophetic as this region that encompassed ‘The McClaren Vale’, one of the top wine regions in Australia. This is a short photographic record of a recent trip down to the Fleurieu Peninsula, particularly to the spectacular and rugged coastline, and the magnificent pristine beaches.

DAY 1 – GOOLWA to MASLIN BEACH

GOOLWA

P1080403Goolwa – Paddle-Steamer and Hindmarsh Bridge

First ‘port of call’ was GOOLWA, at the mouth of the Murray River. Goolwa was once considered as the capital of South Australia due to it being a major port. This included the old paddle-steamers that travelled up and down the Murray River. It was also once known as ‘theNew Orleans of South Australia’, which conjures up all kinds of hedonistic possibilities. Now, however, Goolwa is a relatively quiet country town, a popular place for tourists to visit and perhaps catch a glimpse of the by-gone time.

PORT ELIOT – VICTOR HARBOUR – ENCOUNTER BAY

IMG_3609Encounter Bay – South Australia

From GOOLWA we drove west to PORT ELIOT and to the headland, granting a spectacular view of the coastline, including Victor Harbour and Encounter Bay. In the late-nineteenth century, the connection between Goolwa, Port Eliot and Victor Harbour was quite significant. There are remnants of this by-gone ear, old sandstone houses and hotels, and even an old steam train that still runs between the three towns. The rest is very much tourists and retirees townhouses, that are not particularly attractive. The best part is the beaches and coastal walks.

KINGS BEACH

P1080418.JPGP1080421.JPG

The headland is the remains of an old glacier, thousands of years old, which accounts for the unique rock formation.

P1080425.JPGP1080426.JPGP1080428.JPGP1080430.JPGP1080431.JPGKings Beach

P1080433.JPGGranite Island – Encounter Bay

Just beyond Victor Harbour, at the western promontory, there is this wonderful coastal walk. The coastline is rugged with some startling, almost pre-historic rock shapes, and there are tales of shipwrecks and drownings that are marked along the path. It kept reminding us of parts of Cornwall in the UK, with one lonely sandstone house set amongst the hillside that runs down the coast.

DEEP CREEK

P1080435.JPGP1080437Deep Creek – Walk

We drove further west along the coast and started the walk to Deep Creek Beach, which marks the beginning of the ‘Heysen Trail’ that goes all the way to Cape Jervis. We only did part of this walk, which as you can see was rather steep, uphill and downhill. Nonetheless, the view was fantastic – and as you gazed south all you could think was ‘next stop Antartica’.

MASLIN BEACH

MALSIN BEACH in the Gulf St. Vincent was recently named amongst the ‘Top 10’ beaches in Australia. It easy to see why as it is quite unique with its impressive cliff face. We arrived at sunset and walked along the beach to the ‘Unclad’ section. Maslin Beach was the first official ‘nudist’ beach in Australia – we did not venture into that

P1080441.JPGP1080440.JPGMaslin Beach

P1080442.JPGMaslin Beach – Wedding

P1080445.JPGP1080443.JPGP1080447.JPGP1080450.JPGMaslin Beach – ‘Unclad’

P1080454.JPGOnkaparinga River –  Maslin Beach

P1080455.JPGMaslin Beach

DAY 2 – PORT WILLUNGA to ADELAIDE

We started the next part of our journey through the Fleurieu Peninsula by visiting PORT WILLUNGA. This was another old sea-port that serviced Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The only remnants left of that ear are the weathered posts of the old jetty and the man-made caves in the cliff-face. There is also the ship-wreck 200m of the coast of the ‘Star of Greece, which went down in 1888.

PORT WILLUNGA

P1080456.JPGP1080458.JPG

P1080469
P1080464 - Version 2
P1080459

P1080465.JPGP1080466.JPGP1080461.JPGP1080468.JPGP1080470.JPGPort Willunga

From Port Willunga, we drove inland to the PRIMO ESTATE VINEYARD.

P1080473
P1080472

Primo Estate

And then to PORT NOARLUNGA, which is a beach suburb of the City of Onkaparinga; very popular with families and tourists. We bought a couple of delicious hamburgers from a local (Thai) restaurant and devoured them on the beach.

PORT NOARLUNGA

P1080474P1080475.JPGP1080478.JPGP1080480.JPGP1080479.JPGPort Noarlunga

Like anywhere in Australia there are always fantastic and fantastical ‘street art’, which includes advertisements, murals, and shop window displays.

P1080483
P1080484
P1080485
P1080486
IMG_3614
P1080487

We returned to Adelaide and went to the South Australian Art Gallery, then walked through the Botanic Gardens before returning to the Rose Park apartment for another beautiful sunset.

ADELAIDE

IMG_3615
IMG_3616

Biennale – Art Gallery of South Australia

P1080490.JPGAdelaide Botanic Gardens

P1080494.JPGRose Park – Adelaide

TONY KNIGHT

JOURNEY THROUGH A WINDOW – The Re-Discovery of Worth

22 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in 21st CENTURY ART, abstracts, Adelaide, Australia, BEACHES, BLACK & WHITES, HISTORY, MYANMAR, PEOPLE, PHOTOGRAPHY, PUBLIC ART, STATUES, STREET ART, TONY'S TOURS - Travel Journal, TRAVEL, TRAVEL JOURNEY, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Journey, Re-Invention, Self, Spiritual

INTRODUCTION

Looking through a window, any window, is to gaze on a number of possibilities – some good, some bad. Stepping through that window, by choice or by force, means engagement – some good, some bad. Either way, it is a journey – from the scourging of a past life to a re-birth, a re-awakening, and a re-discovery of self-worth. This was my journey over the past several years, represented and exemplified by the following photographs.

1. PROLOGUE- JOURNEY THROUGH A WINDOW .jpg

Through a Window: Inneston, Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia

PROLOGUE

Everyone faces, at least at one point in their life, an experience that wipes away a past life. This can be quite painful and devastating, combined with feeling like one is going through a ritualistic cleansing – a scourging of fire and water.

2. RITUAL - FLAMING WATERS.jpgPrologue: The Scourging of Flaming Waters – Fountain, Brisbane, Queensland

 ACT 1: RE-BIRTH & RE-AWAKENING

After the scourging comes the re-birth and re-awakening. We greet the new day with a smile in the hope of better life.

4. ACT 1 - THE AWAKENING - SUNRISE.jpgRe-Awakening: Sunrise – Maslin Beach, South Australia

We look around our immediate environment and notice the ruination. Feelings of being confined and trapped complement a sense of isolation.

5A. AC 1 - ISOLATION
5B. ACT 1 - ISLOATION
5C. ACT 1 - ISOLATION
5D. ACT 1 - ISOLATION

Re-Awakening: Isolation – Port Willunga, South Australia

We rise to face the day. Gazing into what seems vast as well as beautiful there is the juxtaposition of various figures and positions that reflect our current sense of self.

6. ACT 1 - MOON, SKY, SEA, ROCK.jpgRe-Awakening: Moon, Sky, Sea, Sand, Rock – Maslin Beach, South Australia

 ACT 2: SOLACE

We need to accept what was and move forward to what may be. In order to do that we must seek solace; to calm, to nurture and re-nourish, to be inspired and to re-invent. This place of solace can be nature, a place of religious worship, and in art galleries. In all cases, it is a source of spiritual solace as well as slowly but steadily re-connecting with a living world.

7. ACT 2 - SOLACE - NATURE - DANCING TREES.jpgSolace: Nature – Dancing Trees – Murdoch Walk, Botanic Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia

8. ACT 2 - SOLACE - SPIRITUAL.jpgSolace: Spiritual – St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia

9. ACT 2 - SOLACE - ART.jpgSolace: Art – National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

ACT 3: INSPIRATION

In these places of solace, there is always the possibility of being inspired by something – such as a work of art. Emerging from these places, hopefully re-nourished, you are more open to the wonders and beauty that surrounds you on the street.

In Adelaide, there is wonderful ‘Street Art’, which is often breathtaking in beauty as well as scale. This includes the first work of ‘Public (Street) Art’ in Adelaide, which is a statue, a copy of Canova’s ‘Venus’. It was first unveiled in 1892, and caused a minor scandal due to its nudity and conservative tastes and morals of the time. It shows the goddess Venus stepping from a bath and being surprised; by what or by whom is up to the imagination of the gazer.

In the contemporary ‘Street Art’ of Adelaide there are numerous other re-imagings of a modern ‘Venus’, which can be found down laneways, and even in car parks, such as this one by Adelaide Street Artist Jimmy.C.

10. ACT 3 - INSPIRATION - STREET ART - Canova's Venus
11. ACT 3 - INSPIRATION - STREET ART - VENUS

Inspiration: Canova’s ‘Venus’ – North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia; Jimmy.C’s ‘Venus’ – Rundle Street, Kent Town, Adelaide, South Australia

ACT 4: RE-INVENTING

From the nurturing honeyed waters of solace and inspiration, the re-invention of self begins.

12. RE-BIRTH - HONEYED WATERS.JPGRe-Inventing: Honeyed Waters – Fountain, Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales

Re-invention means re-engaging, and the realization that there really is, as Shakespeare’s says, ‘a world elsewhere’. There are multiple worlds, none of them perfect,  in which one can find inspiration, hope, and adventure. Looking out, not in, moving forward by accepting the past and the present for what it is…and the next journey begins.

14.  ACT 4 - ADVENTURE - TONY'S TOURS - MYANMAR. TEMPLES - INDIEN, LAKE INLE, MYANMAR.JPGRe-Inventing: Adventure – Temples, Indien, Lake Inle, Myanmar

15. ACT 4 - ADVENTURE - TONY'S TOUS - TEMPLES AND COW, BAGAN, MYANMAR.JPGRe-Inventing: Adventure – Cow & Temples, Bagan, Myanmar

16. ACT 4 - ADVENTURE - TONY'S TOUS - MYANMAR - FISHERMAN - LAKE INLE, MYANMAR.jpgRe-Inventing: Adventure – Fisherman, Lake Inle, Myanmar

17. ACT 4 - ADVENTURE - TONY'S TOURS - MYANMAR. TEMPLE ENTRANCE - BAGAN, MYANMAR.jpegRe-Inventing: Adventure – Temple Entrance, Bagan, Myanmar

EPILOGUE: The New Self

Photography was a major source of re-invention for me. After the devastation and sense of isolation and abandonment, I discovered a means to release a dormant creativity. I thank the various people involved in helping me to re-invent my fractured self in a way that I never knew could be possible.

18. EPILOGUE - PORTRIAT OF AN ARTIST - NOW.JPGThe New Self: Portrait – Sie and I

‘Never Stop Believing’ and continue ‘Making the Ordinary “Extraordinary”

TONY KNIGHT

THEATRE: OUR BOYS by Jonathan Lewis – Adelaide Repertory Theatre

10 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in 20TH CENTURY ART, ACTING, ACTORS, Adelaide, ADELAIDE THEATRE, Australia, DIRECTORS, DRAMA, FILM, HISTORY, MOVIES, PEOPLE, PLAYS, PUBLIC ART, South Australia, THEATRE, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ACTING, ACTORS, ADELAIDE REPERTORY THEATRE, Australia, CINEMA, DRAMA, FILM, MOVIES, OUR BOYS, PLAYS, South Australia, THEATRE

 

 

our-boys8aweb-n101lvydljj1zc0idolu5n0qp1oqx8xcgdwj5j173cOur Boys by Jonathan Lewis is a two-act play that was first performed in London on 1993, and subsequently won a number of awards. The Adelaide Repertory Company’s production, directed by David Sims, is the Australian premiere of this thoroughly enjoyable, moving, challenging and unique play. My litmus test in regard to seeing theatre and films these days is whether or not it has moved me download-3emotionally. In the case of Our Boys it did most profoundly and in a way that caught me by surprise. Set in a military hospital in the 1984, we follow the trials and tribulations of 6 war veterans. On the surface, especially the first act, the play is download-2full of crude, smutty and vulgar British humour, similar to other hospital drama-comedies such as Carry on Doctor (1967) Peter Nichol’s The National Health (1969).

Some may dismiss this play as just another case of ‘men behaving badly’, nonetheless, something else is at work here. Underneath all this, and is partly the motivation for such behaviour is genuine fear – and specifically the fear of impotency. I’m finding it difficult to think of other dramatic works that concentrate on masculine impotency – a taboo topic that few men would even discuss let alone admit too. In a theatrical world that is often led by feminist ‘equality’ issue this play is a sober reminder that there are tragic contemporary male stories to be told as well; in a way it makes the play unique in contemporary theatre.

Our Boys, however, does join rather a long and brilliant heritage of other war and/or post-war traumatic stress dramas. This includes – R. C. Sherriff’s Journey End (1928) and W. Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered (1932). There are also William Wyler’s Academy Award Best Film winner The Best Years of our Lives (1946) and Fred Zimmerman’s The Men (1950), which was Marlon Brando’s debit film. Speaking of Brando it is an often neglected factor in regards Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) that one reason why Stanley and his buddies are so violent is partly associated with 2WW experiences. Other works include Willis Hall’s The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959), John Frankenheimer’s brilliant and unsurpassable The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Barry England’s Conduct Unbecoming (1969), David Rabes’ Sticks and Bones (1971) and Streamers (1976), Peter Nichols’ Privates on Parade (1977), Hal Ashbey’s Coming Home (1978), Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998), Simon Stevens’ Motortown (2006) and Stella Feehily’s O Go My Man (2006). Closer to home, there are such Australian dramas as Sumner Locke Elliott Rusty Bugles (1948), George Johnston’s My Brother Jack (1964), John Power’s The Last of the Knucklemen (1978), and Bill Bennetts’ A Street to Die (1985). However, the film that has the most immediate impact on Our Boys is the Michael Cimino’s devastating brilliant The Deer Hunter (1978).

download-4
download-1
download
download-5
51xwxpDDuLL._SY450_
51XpABShu6L
download-6
cominghome1
9780413776075
astreettodie

 Towards the end of Our Boys first act, in an attempt to cheer up the wheel-chair bound character of Lee, who is often inarticulate due to being shot in the head, the men stage a beer drinking competition called ‘Beer Hunter’ after the film The Deer Hunter. The drinking game parallels with devastating and highly memorable Russian roulette game in the The Deer Hunter. It is due to this game and the celebrations that the men find themselves in trouble, facing military discipline for ‘conduct unbecoming’ and expulsion from the army. With their self-esteem and sense of potency already vulnerable this new attack on their individual security brings forward issues of class warfare and scapegoating. The resident officer is blamed for being a back-stabbing informer – but he is innocent. The actual informer is one of their own, and without giving it away, is the character who has the most to lose. He betrays his friends and lies, blaming the officer; when the truth is finally revealed the sense of betrayed loyalty becomes violent in its retaliation. Surprise, surprise – not.

 Our Boys as well as the works cited above all involve “men behaving badly”, physically and emotionally, often due to past or current war experiences. The individual stories and characters highlight struggles for self-esteem, power and potency. In this masculine rationale if you do not have these things then you don’t have an identity and viability to make positive and active contributions to society. Whilst ‘feminists’ may rage, nonetheless, masculine identity, health and well-being is still firmly tied to these issue, which are generally the domain of the work-place. Men still are (too often) defined by the work place and what they do (or not do) for a living. What does one do when self-esteem, power, potency, viability, credibility and identity is taken away by things that are beyond your control by murderous violence – physical and/or psychological? Does one resort to the betrayal of loyalties, revenge, in order to satisfy delusional prejudices and self-preservation? In Our Boys these issues rise to the surface, especially in the second act. Ironically, there are good outcomes for some of the patients in Our Boys – but by no means not all – such is life. This mixture of fateful and fortuitous endings only serves to add to the overall greater complexity of the play

Throughout this admirable and ultimately extremely moving production the voice of Margaret Thatcher (post-Falkland War) is heard, stating things like ‘we must take care of our defenses in order to prepare for any situation’. But how can you prepare for sudden and inexplicable violence? One could argue, perhaps, that these men are in the military and subsequently are trained for the violence of war. But this is not necessarily so; not all military personnel are trained for and do active service; and yet are still targets for violence. Nor do all military personnel, especially when working in a domestic and local world, necessarily expect sudden violent acts of internal terrorism. The final scene of Our Boys attempts to articulate the ‘horror’ of home-front terrorist violence. It is the most moving as well as frightening moment of the play. The harrowing experience and subsequent trauma of home-front terrorist violence is stunningly realized in the final confession by Joe, the patient who has been in hospital the longest, and beautifully acted by Adam Tuominen. Joe has an inexplicable disease that has resulted in the removal of one of his fingers. This mysterious disease, however, could be read as metaphor for HIV/AIDS – or other cancers – as it seems as if it will never be cured. Or is it the disease inside his brain, the never-ending post-traumatic disorder due to the incredible violence he experienced. Joe’s story is partly based on a real-life event in a bombing in London by the IRA. As the story unfiled I found I was gasping and shaking my head with the sheer horror of the violence. How could anyone get over such things? The thing is – like an incurable disease – you don’t.

Congratulations to the Adelaide Repertory Theatre, David Sims, and all the actors involved in this terrific production – Adam Tuominen, Patrick Martin, James Edwards, Lee Cook, Nick Duddy and Leighton Vogt. Thank you for providing an opportunity to see this truly unique and moving modern play. It has remained with me, as it did with my Asian-Australian companion last night, who is studying English here in Adelaide. Admittedly, some of it went over his head, and I was a bit concerned as the Asian imitations in the ‘Beer Hunter’ scene, nonetheless, this was the scene he liked the most. Go figure. He also, like myself, was very impressed with Adam Tuominen’s Joe and Patrick Martin’s Lee. Thank you.

TONY KNIGHT

ART: Arthur Boyd – Art Gallery of South Australia –

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in 20TH CENTURY ART, Adelaide, ART, Australia, HISTORY, PEOPLE, PUBLIC ART, SALA, South Australia, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ART, Arthur Boyd, Australia, Australian Art, South Australia

ARTHUR BOYD (1920-1999) is one of the most important and unique Australian artists of the 20th Century. His range of work is extraordinarily vast in scope, size and subject matter, ranging from impressionistic landscapes to biblical and historical matters.His works are always incredibly dramatic and eye-catching. Invariably the characters in his works are somewhat devoid of emotion, reminiscent of ‘mannerism’ art in the late 16th Century. The four works by Arthur Boyd are currently on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia and are representative of particular periods of his extraordinary work.

Arthur Boyd was born at Murrumbenna, Victoria, into an artistic family. When he was 14 years old attended evening classes at the National Gallery School, Melbourne, where he met Jewish artist Yosi Bergner who introduced him to the the works of Dostoyevsky and Kafka and played a major role in influencing Boyd’s humanitarian and social values. Boyd then spent several years living on the Mornington Peninsula with his grandfather, Arthur Meric Boyd, who influenced Arthur Boyd’s particular talent and skill in landscape painting. He then moved to in the inner city of Melbourne painting urban cityscapes. In 1941 he was conscripted and served with the Cartographer Unit of the Australian Army during WW2 until 1944. His paintings of this period, of people deemed unfit for service are startling, and reveal an interest in ‘outsiders’, which was to become a major feature in his later works.

The painting, Figures by a Creek, from this period of Boyd’s life is relatively disturbing and turbulent, almost apocalyptic. A range of human expressions are evident in the painting, including love and grief. It is however, the soulless vacant eyes and naked abandonment in this prison like terrain that is unsettling.

P1030160 - Version 2Figures by a Creek (1944)

In the 1940s he became a member of the ‘Angry Penguins’, whose aim was to challenge conventional art and literature in Australia. and introduce a new radical and modern perspective. In the 1940s and 1950s Arthur Boyd traveled extensively through outback Australia. He was profoundly influenced by the landscape as well as indigenous culture. His series of The Bride, a half-caste who was also an ‘outsider’, was painted during this period and became his most successful works.

The paintings Persecuted Loves and Bridegroom going to his Wedding date from this period.

P1030255Persecuted Lovers (1957)

P1030162Bridegroom going to his Wedding (1958)

In 1959 he was a founding member of the ‘Antipodeans’, which presented figurative work rather than abstracts that were the dominant form at that time. Other ‘Antipodeans’ included John Brack, John Perceval, Charles Blackman and Clifton Pugh. He and his family then moved to London where he remained until 1977. Boyd’s work during this period reveal another evolution. His Nebuchadnezzar series of painting are his responses to the VietnamWar, whilst overall there is recurrent theme of ‘metamorphosis’. He also worked within the theatre, designing sets for opera and ballet. Boyd’s Lovers under a tree with weeping head (1963) is a work painted on a ceramic tile, and aspect of Boyd’s work in the years he was living and working in London. The subject matter of ‘lovers’ and a ‘metamorphosis’ that is apparent in the work and exemplifies his artistic concerns in this period.

P1030161Lovers under a tree with weeping head (1963)

Boyd returned to Australia and he and his wife Yvonne bought over 1000 acres of property in Bundanoon on the Shoalhaven River, not far from the town of Nowra, New South Wales. They later gave this property to the Australian Government for the use of artists. He also gave the copyright to all his work to the ‘Bundanoon Trust’ that was set up to care and manage the property.

A truly great Australian artist.

TONY KNIGHT

ART: Australian Fashion – Linda Jackson

18 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in Adelaide, ART, Australia, FASHION, HISTORY, PUBLIC ART, SALA, South Australia, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ART, Australia, FASHION, Linda Jackson, South Australia

Linda Jackson is one of the pioneers of Australian fashion. Born and raised in Melbourne, where she studied art and design, and then through the 1960s travelled extensively through Asia and Europe. In 1972 she met fellow Australian fashion icon, Jenny Kee, and together they opened Flamingo Park,  a boutique fashion shop in the Strand Arcade, Sydney. This proved to be extremely popular and successful, complementing a kind of Australian Renaissance in the arts throughout the country. Numerous influences have played their part on Linda Jackson’s body of work, most notably the artists Peter Tully and David McDiarmid. It is, however, her travels and experience in the Australian outback with aboriginal communities that has made her work so dazzling unique. Currently on display in the South Australian Art Gallery there are a number of dresses and fabrics designed by Linda Jackson. They are all wonderful and exemplify her beautiful work.

P1030230
P1030228
P1030226
P1030227
P1030229

(top left) LINDA JACKSON & DEBORAH LESER – Desert Rock top, Sturt’s Desert Pea tunic, and Desert Pea Oz map scarf (1980); (bottom left) LINDA JACKSON – Sturt’s Desert Pea outfit (1990); (top centre) LINDA JACKSON – Red Centre Textiles (1995-97); (bottom centre) LINDA JACKSON – Red Centre Standley Chasm outfit (1995-97); (right) LINDA JACKSON – Indigo gold-eyelashes textile (1999).

P1030231LINDA JACKSON – Santa Teresa outfit (1997)

TONY KNIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ART: Australian Colonial Art

17 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in Adelaide, ART, Australia, ENGLISH HISTORY, HISTORY, PUBLIC ART, South Australia, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ART, Australia, COLONIAL ART, South Australia

The South Australian Art Gallery has a broad and diverse collection of Australian and international artworks. This article focuses on seven selected works and artists from the Australian Colonial Art section of the gallery. Most of the pieces are associated with the history of South Australia. They are representative of the how Australia was first realised and essentially romantically portrayed by English and European artists during the 19th century. Many of these ‘travel artists’ had colourful and adventurous lives, leading them to explore ‘brave new worlds’ and creating works that stand as unique in the first appreciation of this new ‘great southern land’ we now call Australia.

P1030108

AUGUSTUS EARLE – Barnett Levey (c. 1825)      Augustus Earle (c. 1793-1838) was arguably Australia’s first major artist. Born in London, Augustus Earle was a member of a prominent American family. He trained at the Royal Academy and was exhibiting at the age of 13. From 1815, when he was 22 years old, Earle began his many and extensive travels throughout the known world. He was able to finance his travels through the sale of his art work. Augustus Earle came to Australia in 1825, arriving first in Hobart and then up to Sydney. Earle remained in Sydney, with excursions to its outer regions, as well as New Zealand, until 1828. One of his first commissions was this wedding portrait of Barnett Levey (1798-1837). Barnett Levey was the young colony’s first Jewish free settler. He was also the person responsible for building, creating and operating Australia’s first professional theatre, the Theatre Royal, which opened on the 26th December 1832 with Douglas Jerrold’s burlesque Black-Eyed Susan. Unfortunately, Barnett Levey’s fortunes and efforts were not successful. He died in 1837 leaving his family in poverty. Nonetheless, as the Sydney Times (21 October 1837) wrote, ‘to his spirit and perseverance are the public indebted for the introduction of theatricals into New South Wales’.

JOHN GLOVER – A View of the Artist’s home and garden in Mills Plains, Van Dieman’s Land (1835).P1030106

John Glover (1767-1849) was born at Houghton-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire. He had a highly successful career in England, although never a member of the Royal Academy. In 1830 John Glover decided to move to Australia, arriving in Hobart, Van Dieman’s Land (now Tasmania), on 18 February 1831, which coincided with his 64th birthday. John Glover has been called ‘the father of Australian landscape painting’. His work in Australia is noted for the first realistic impression of the Australian natural bright light and unique flora and bushland.

EUGENE VON GUERARD – Early Settlement of Thomas and William Lang, Salt River, Port Phillip, New South Wales (1860)SA ART GALLERY - COLONIAL ART - EUGENE VON GUERARD - Early settlement of Thomas & William Lang, Salt River Port Phillip, NSW. March, 1840

Eugene von Guerard (1811-1901) was born in Vienna, Austria, and came to Australia in 1852. Guerard was a prolific and influential landscape artists in a particular style known as stemming from the  ‘Dusseldorf School’ of painting. This relatively ‘romantic’ style involved a new realistic approach and realisation based on empirical observation of nature. Eugene von Guerard initially came to Australia to try his luck on the Victorian Gold Fields. He was not successful, but did produce numeros drawings and sketches of the life of the ‘diggers’ on the Gold Fields. By the 1860s he had established himself as the country’s foremost landscape painter, mainly working by commission for wealthy pastoralists. In 1870 he was appointed the first Master of the School of Painting at the National Art Gallery of Victoria, a position he was to occupy for the next 11 years. During this time he taught future important Australian artists such as Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin. He also assisted another German artist from the ‘Dusseldorf School, Louis Tannert when Tannert came to Australia in 1876. Eugene von Guerard  returned to Europe in 1882, but his fortunes rapidly declined after his wife died in 1891, and he lost all his money in the 1893 Australian bank crash. He lived in poverty for the rest of his life, dying in Chelsea, London, 17 April 1901.

NICHOLAS CHEVALIER – Memorandum of the Start of the Exploring Expedition (1860)P1030111

Nicholas Chevalier (1828-1902) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and studied in Lausanne (Switzerland), and Munich (Germany). He moved to London in 1851 where two of his paintings were shown at the Royal Academy. After further study in Rome he came to Australia in late 1854, and by August 1855 he was working as a cartoonist for the Melbourne edition of Punch magazine. He also worked as an illustrator for the Illustrated Australian News. This relatively large oil on canvas painting shows the start of the ill-fated ‘Burke and Wills’ expedition from Melbourne on the 20th August 1860. This was a relatively large expedition comprising of 19 men from different ethnic backgrounds – English, Irish, Afghani and one American. They had 23 horses, 6 wagons and 26 camels, and their departure was witnessed by over 15,000 spectators. Chevalier’s celebratory painting with it’s finely observed detail of the backers of expedition in the right-hand corner, gives little indication of the tragedy that was follow; although the disproportion of the man on the white horse at the central front of the painting in contrast with what is behind him does give a hint of the miss-match of respective personalities that was to play its part in this epic disaster. Nicholas Chevalier worked in Australia until 1869 when he returned to London. He remained in London, constantly having work exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1871 and 1887. Thereafter his output radically decreased and by 1895 had virtually given up painting. He died in London on 15 March 1902.

JOHN MICHAEL SKIPPER – Corroboree (c. 1864)P1030121

John Michael Skipper (1815-1883) was born in Norwich, Norfolk, and was a solicitor as well as an artist. He was always a rather free-spirited and rebellious individual, preferring to work as an artist than a lawyer. This was evident as early as 1833 when he abandoned his legal studies and went to sea for the East India Company. However, he used his legal skills and knowledge to finance his artistic and adventurous achievements. In 1836 he decided to migrate to Australia and arranged to be appointed as an article clerk for Charles Mann, the advocate-general for South Australia. In 1840 he became an attorney and practised until 1851 when he joined others in the Victorian ‘Gold Rush’. He returned to Adelaide in 1852 having not much luck finding gold and worked as a court clerk at Port Adelaide until 1872. Throughout all this time John Michael Skipper also produced numerous drawings and sketches, as well as a few paintings, that reflected his personal experience at sea as well as life on the gold fields and the early history of Adelaide. He retired in 1872 to his farm in Kent Town, Adelaide, where he died 7 December 1883. This spectacular large painting is an exception to John Michael Skipper’s overall canon of work. The painting has a theatrical nature with a small group of wealthy white colonists being dazzled by an aboriginal corroboree under a full moon in front of what may be Mt Abrupt in the Grampians mountain range. Whilst the white colonials dominate the front of the painting, particularly the lady in black riding side-saddle, nonetheless, the eye is drawn to the fiery phalanx-like army of indigenous warriors – two different worlds lined up in juxtaposition with one another.

CHARLES HILL – Georgetown (1877)SA ART GALLERY - COLONIAL ART - CHARLES HILL - Georgetown (1877)

Charles Hill (1824-1915) was born in Coventry, England, into a military family. Charles Hill, however, did not follow the path expected of him but became a relatively successful  artist. He studied at the Newcastle Fine Arts Academy and at the Government School of Design. He emigrated to  South Australia in 1854 where he taught art at St Peter’s College and Adelaide’s Educational Institute. In 1856 he opened his own School of Art in his own home on Pulteney Street, Adelaide, and was instrumental in setting up the South Australian Society of Arts. When the South Australian School of Design was founded in 1861 Charles Hill was appointed at its first Master. He moved to ‘Alix House’ 100 South Terrace in 1866. He eventually retired from the School of Design in 1886. Charles Hill painted numerous landscapes and cityscapes, including this one of Georgetown in 1877. Georgetown is a small town in the mid-north of South Australia, 196 kilometres (122 miles) north of Adelaide.

H. J. JOHNSTONE – Evening Shadows, backwater of the Murray River, South Australia (1880)P1030109

Henry James Johnstone (1835-1907) was born in Birmingham, England, and studied at the Birmingham School of Design before joining his father’s photographic firm. He came to Australia in 1853 when he was only 18. By 1865 he established in Melbourne, with Emily O’Shannessey and George Hasler, the photographic company of Johnstone, O’Shannessey & Co., which became Melbourne’s leading portrait photographers. Whilst Johnstone may mostly known as in influential early photographer, he was also a successful artist. In 1867 he joined the Melbourne National Gallery School of Painting, and 1871 he became a member of the Victorian Academy of Arts. In 1876 he left Melbourne for South Australia where he remained for the next four years. He then toured extensively throughout the USA, and finally ended up in London in 1880 where he remained for the rest of his life. He regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy until 1900. He died in London in 1907 at the age of 72. The above painting is one of a few he painted whilst residing in South Australia. It is truly an extraordinary work, prefiguring ‘photorealism’ by nearly a century. Hardly surprising considering H. J. Johnstone’s knowledge, skill and talent as a pioneer photographer.

I hope you enjoy this brief journey through Australian Colonial Art. They are amongst my personal favourites and give a hint of the many marvellous works that are on display in the South Australian Art Gallery.

TONY KNIGHT

TONY’S TOURS: PUBLIC ART: ADELAIDE 1: The Three Oldest Statues in Adelaide

12 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by APHK PHOTOGRAPHY in Adelaide, ART, Australia, HISTORY, PEOPLE, PUBLIC ART, South Australia, STATUES, TONY'S TOURS - Travel Journal, TRAVEL, TRAVELING IN AUSTRALIA, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Adelaide, ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE, ADELAIDE SPORTS OVAL, Australia, BOER WAR, CANOVA, CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH, GALLIPOLI, HERCULES, PUBLIC ART, RIVER TORRENS, SIMPSON AND HIS DONKEY, South Australia, STATUES, VENUS, WAR MEMORIALS, WWI

PUBLIC ART: The Three Oldest Statues in Adelaide

After spending a large amount of this morning in a dentist’s chair, and feeling a bit numb in the mouth, I walked back to the Adelaide CBD from North Adelaide via the Torrens River. Once again – a fabulous discovery of just how exquisitely beautiful Adelaide is. showing off this lovely sunny February day, and reminding me of certain English, American and European towns that have a river running through it. It also gave me chance to further my file re public art. As mentioned in a previous blog – PUBLIC ART: SINGAPORE – my definition of ‘Public Art’ is basically anything that is in and for the public eye, which can include statues, graffiti, sketches, advertising, memorials, etc. Here are some photos I took on this walk.

I had no clear itinerary worked out, just ‘went with the flow’ as to where I meandered. I walked past the ADELAIDE OVAL, which is a large stylish modern building – with a number of statues of classical heroic athletes, such as Hercules, as well as modern Australian ones.

THE STATUE OF HERCULES, also known as The Farnese ‘Hercules’, sits in Pennington Gardens in front of the Adelaide Oval. It was the second public statue to be erected in Adelaide; given to the City of Adelaide in 1893 by William Austin Horn (1841-1922). W. A. Horn was a prominent South Australian businessman and politician, of whom it was once said that he was ‘one of the most generous public men‘ in South Australia.

Whilst it is a copy of an original, dating from 1892, nonetheless, it is rather unique, presenting a rather reflective and melancholic older-Hercules.

William_Austin_Horn.jpgI should add that in 1892 William Austin Horn in had already donated what was Adelaide’s first piece of public art; a  classical statue, a beautiful copy of Canova‘s VENUS. This statue was rather controversial at the time. The controversy was possibly inflamed as well as ignored by the fact that one of old Adelaide’s most popular ‘Gentlemen Club’ of the 1890s was directly across the road from the statue which lay on North Terrace in the CBD. Members of the club could go onto the balcony, enjoying their evening brandy or port and cigars, whilst list-fully gazing at this beautiful Canova ‘Venus’. The statue, as well as the building that hosted this club are still there on North Terrace – long may they be so!

The other statues that I noted as I wandered through Pennington Park was a rather impressive one of Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001), and somewhat perversely one of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935). What ‘Smithy’ has to do with sport and the Adelaide Sports Oval I’m not quite sure? Nonetheless, as it may be that younger (and older) Australians have no idea who Kingsford-Smith is (or rather, was), nor of his heroic importance to Australian and World-History, better that he is there smack-bang right at the entrance.

On the other side of the main road there are a number of gardens and war memorials. I didn’t go to all of them, but the ones I did were excellent and somewhat surprising. I’m starting to appreciate the unique quirkiness that one finds in Adelaide, as often as not expressed in it variable range of ‘public art’, which can sometimes be placed in somewhat ironic modern day position. For example, this beautiful stone cross that is right next to speed sign; I call the pix ‘Stone Crucifix in a 50km/hr zone’ (haha).

Attracted by one that had a plethora of petunias, I discovered a statue dedicated to WWI Australian Gallipoli hero John Simpson (1892-1915), of ‘Simpson and his Donkey‘ fame.

Just a little further on was another war memorial shrine, in a classical pagoda with a very unusual life-size statue on the steps.

From here I just walked straight down to the banks of the River Torrens – the vista speaks for itself – marvellous!

I walked towards the city along the bank footpath and under the bridge…..

….continuing my fascination with ‘pathways’, what they look like, and where they lead. The path under the bridge was no exception; plus I discovered a piece of ‘public art’ that I’m pretty sure most people passing through this ‘pathway’ would never really notice – a series of large blue tiles with black drawings and silhouettes.

Emerging from this tunnel, you get a fantastic view of the city of Adelaide, the River Torrens and the Festival Centre.

I then went up and crossed the bridge that becomes King William Street, one of the main roads that travels through the CBD. There are parks and gardens on both sides of the road, but the biggest is the open park in front of the Festival Centre, looking directly across the Torrens to the Sports Centre.

I continued walking up King William Street until it meets North Terrace. Just next to the Festival Centre, on the other side from the park and the river, there are a number of examples of ‘public art’, modern and those from a more distant time.

Was particularly taken with this one; playing with the reflections….

And this lovely drawing near the entrance to the Festival Centre Car Park….

Finally, at the corner of King William Street and North Terrace there is rather impressive War Memorial statue, of a soldier and his horse in action. What is wonderfully intriguing about this terrific bronze statue is that it is dedicated to those South Australians who served in the Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902); the same war that saw the court martial and execution of  Lieutenant Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant  (1864-1902). Morant’s name is not on any of bronze inscription panels that are places around the statue’s pedestal, which list the names of those who fought in the Boer War. However, the name of his comrade, Lieutenant Peter Handcock (1868-1902), who was also courtmartialed and executed at the same time as ‘Breaker’ Morant, was added in 1964 after a family and public campaign to do so.

The statue was designed and created by Adrian Jones (1885-1938); another of this English sculptor’s work, his ‘public art’, is the The Peace Quadriga that sits atop of Wellington Arch in London. After a vigorous competition involving public opinion, The pedestal was made by local firm Garlick, Sibley and Wooldridge, the granite coming from nearby Murray 200px-Quadriga,_Wellington_ArchBridge. The statue was offical unveiled at a big civic function by Sir George Le Hunte (1852-1925), Governor of South Australia from 1903-1909. The date, 6 June 1904, was chosen carefully, coinciding with the birthday of the then Prince of Wales, later King George V (1865-1936).

From the time of it’s unveiling up to present day, this memorial statue, placed right in front of Government House, has been central to any Australian war meorial function, including ANZAC Day. The statue has been known by a number of names. Initially it was the National War Memorial, a position it held until 1931. Today it is called The South African War Memorial and/or The Boer War Memorial.

What is simply wonderful – well I find wonderful in my own romantic way – is that The South African War Memorial, as well as the Canova ‘Venus’, and the Fernese ‘Hercules’, have all witnessed and played a part in the history and evolution of Adelaide. For many Adelaidians over the centuries these statues would have been, as they are now, part of the background for contemporary life and lives. They may not have been directly and regularly noted and commented upon, but was something buried in the conscious and sub-conscious, particularly in regard to memory and place. A common reference point for a number of people from Adelaide, the surrounding region and South Australia. A Collective Memory – what we see now other also saw in the past. Something to treasure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • January 2020
  • August 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015

Categories

  • 16th CENTURY ART
  • 17TH CENTURY ART
  • 18TH CENTURY ART
  • 19TH CENTURY ART
  • 20TH CENTURY ART
  • 21st CENTURY ART
  • abstracts
  • ACTING
  • ACTORS
  • Adelaide
    • ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE
  • ADELAIDE THEATRE
  • AMERICAN DRAMA
  • AMERICAN DRAMA IN THE 1950S
  • AMERICAN FILM AND CINEMA
  • AMERICAN HISTORY
  • AMERICAN POLITICS
  • ANIMALS
  • ART
  • ART GALLERIES
  • ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
  • ASIAN ART
  • ASIAN CINEMA
  • ASIAN THEATRE
  • Australia
  • AUSTRALIAN ACTORS
  • Australian Art
  • AUSTRALIAN FILM
  • AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
  • AUSTRALIAN THEATRE
  • BEACHES
  • BLACK & WHITES
  • BRITISH DRAMA
  • BROADWAY
  • CHINESE CINEMA
  • CINEMA
  • Classical Greek Drama
  • Classical Theatre
  • DIRECTORS
  • DRAMA
  • Elizabethan Drama
  • ENGLISH DRAMA
  • ENGLISH HISTORY
  • ENGLISH THEATRE
  • Euripides
  • FAMOUS TRIALS
  • FASHION
  • festivals
  • FILM
  • Film Noir
  • FRENCH DRAMA
  • FRENCH THEATRE
  • HAROLD PINTER
  • Helen of Troy
  • HISTORY
  • Hollywood
  • IMPRESSIONISM
  • LITERATURE
  • LONDON
  • MOVIES
  • MUSICALS
  • MYANMAR
  • oedipus rex
  • OZ-ASIA
  • PARKS & GARDENS
  • PEOPLE
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • PLAYS
  • POLITICS
  • PUBLIC ART
  • RESTORATION DRAMA
  • SALA
  • SHAKESPEARE
  • SINGAPORE
  • Sophocles
  • South Australia
  • SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY
  • SOUTH KOREA
  • STATUES
  • STREET ART
  • The Trojan War
  • THEATRE
  • TONY'S TOURS – Travel Journal
  • TRAVEL
  • TRAVEL JOURNEY
  • TRAVELING IN AUSTRALIA
  • TRAVELING IN INDIA
  • TREES
  • Uncategorized
  • UNITED KINGDOM
  • USA
  • VINEYARDS
  • WEST END, LONDON

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel