Opening: Thursday 1 May (6-8pm)

Exhibition: 1 May - 31 May 2008

Much of the work in this exhibition has been influenced by the antiquities and tomb paintings seen during our recent family visit to Egypt.

I have tried to capture the feeling of places rather than a literal representation.

In particular the gigantic scale of the temples, the ancient and the modern co-existing, the vast urban density of Cairo, and the life giving Nile with its verdant delta and desert sands not far beyond. So in this sense the exhibition is a transcription; the paintings are ”after Egypt”

Although many of the tomb paintings I saw were completed 5,000 years ago they still spoke with a contemporary eloquence. More than anything the works in this exhibition pay tribute to those ancient masters and the influence their work has on us today.

Richard Birmingham

Richard Birmingham, a founding member of Roar Studios, has worked and exhibited in Melbourne over a period of thirty years. His awareness of the changing face of contemporary art over that time has seen him neither tempted nor seduced by the fashionable, or the Kitsch in Art. His work is expressionist in approach and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to Drawing and Painting
as a primary force in contemporary arts practice.

Richard has set up a teaching and mentor program through the Melbourne Studio School where students attend workshops, have contact with professional Artists, and gain support in their artistic endeavours within a community atmosphere.

Artists Statement

Painting is at its best when there’s a willingness to take risks, and the goal of selling work at all costs takes a back seat. Outcome goals do not work in painting. Engaging process first and foremost always makes for more interesting work.
Painting for me is about finding a metaphor, Cézannes “plastic equivalent”. This is the only reality that counts and it must be found and carried within the language itself.Touch and feeling together with colour and surface are all part of the “Image” and must be developed simultaneously. Formula and tastefulness play no part in this process, where space, form, and colour are the more honest building blocks.

If we explore the unexpected with confidence, then with luck we may arrive at the extraordinary.

Its only through a spirit of enquiry we can create the best chance for something special, something transformative to take place in our work.

There is no other reason to continue painting.

    + Artist CV     ++ http://richardbirmingham.com.au/index.htm