The Exhibiton Of Brett Whitely Essay, Research Paper
Exhibitions are deliberately constructed so that they present a point of view to an audience. An example of this concept is the exhibition of Brett Whitely and Lloyd Rees: Affinities . This exhibition was compiled at The Brett Whitely Studio, to present to the audience the relationship between Lloyd Rees and Brett Whitely, and display any commonalities or differences between the artists works.
Whitley was known for his phenomenal and somewhat controversial talent, whilst Rees was a classical master at drawing and painting. Whitely was so influenced by Rees that at times Whitely openly paid homage to Rees in his work, in particular one work displayed in Affinities, his collage and gouache work Homage to Rees. A contrast of the nature and style of their works, but the similarities of the love for their surrounding environments is clearly presented to the audience shown in the exhibition. For example, Whitley s bright and inspired landscape painting, Big Orange is truly contrasted with Rees realistically and technically perfect Harbour from McMahon s Point .
To further the audiences understanding of the two artist s relationship, two letters are included in the part of the gallery that Whitely used as his home. The first of the letters is written to Rees from Whitely after he had the new of Rees oncoming death. In it he spoke of the exhibition of Rees landscapes he viewed at fourteen, which had a profound effect on my (Whitely s) understanding of what painting was and could be . Whitely believed that Rees artwork looked as though they had every influence in the world in them these little pictures seemed to have filtered and sometimes dredged the whole of Europe through them they contained nature and ideas . The second letter is Rees reply to his kind words, in which he refers to Whitely as a beacon light, which will reveal aspects of Australian creativity hitherto unknown in the years ahead. The gallery being Whitely s home and studio, in which many of his personal items and an unfinished painting are on display, heightens the extremely personal tone of the two letters.
The exhibition Affinities is a prime example of exhibitions being created to display to the audience a point of view. The audience is shown the great love and respect Whitley had for Rees and his work. In turn they further understand the influence of Rees on Whitely s artistic career, and gain more insight into the spiritual depth in both the artists work.