Graeme Edwards -
review
Graham Edwards has displayed four framed paintings in the glass case at the library. This case is now situated in the 'air lock' foyer of the newly renovated entrance. Every person visiting the library will now walk by the CAS display.
Mr Edwards writes: 'The serpent in Mexican culture represented knowledge and wisdom. A vision of the serpent god Quetzalcoatl was seen by the Aztecs as a premonition of the arrival of the Spanish conquerors'. This has given Mr Edwards his subject matter for the painting 'Stream of Wisdom'. He adds that living in Mexico for many years provided him with a different orientation of colour and atmosphere. Most of his exhibitions have been in the Americas.
He uses the term 'Pointillism' and writes of it being first utilised by the French Impressionists. If I compare in my mind these displayed works with some Australian Aborigine dot paintings I saw recently, I could see healthy debate developing on the theme. However, Mr Edwards has not restricted himself to the natural and earth colours of the distant past. Modern pigments have offered him the brightness and vibrancy of pinks, oranges purples and greens that allow lines and shapes to jump from the page.
Graham Edwards uses his dots to create pattern and texture. The work is highly decorative and naive in its colours, lines and shapes. The ideas contained are communicated through primitive images and rely on repetition and patterning. They are honestly illustrative. The various design devices he employs work best for me in 'Stream of Wisdom' and 'Desert Girl' as I find the colours and the compositions best balanced in these two.
The subject matter in all of the pieces allows for contemplation. The viewer could return to them many times and make new observations.
- Anita Sinclair
(Extracted from the
Contemporary Art Society Newsletter September - October
2005)
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updated 23 Nov 2005
