John Olsen in You Beaut Country at National Gallery of Victoria Photo: Wayne Taylor
‘Walking through Federation Square with John Olsen is like being with a pop star. People keep coming up to him saying “Hi John”,’ said NGV Senior Curator of Australian Art, David Hurlston of the 88 year-old artist.
Hurlston has been working with the legendary Australian artist on a new survey, John Olsen: The You Beaut Country, which opened this week at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.
Most of us have grown up with Olsen’s images and have taken a kind of collective ownership over them. His iconic works include his career-defining landscapes series The you beaut country, his much-loved tree frogs, the epic vistas of Sydney Harbour and Lake Eyre, and the indelible mural Salute to Five Bells (1973), which hangs in the Sydney Opera House.
Olsen images define Australia said Hurlston.
‘I think his work has a natural accessibility to so many different people. ‘There is something about his line and the way he approaches his art – it has such passion that people can’t help but be drawn into that.’
He said Olsen’s perspective on Australian culture engaged audiences. ‘People are intrigued with this concept of “you beaut country”. From his point of view it wasn’t an endearment, if anything it was a criticism that looks at Australian culture, and that in itself is intriguing,’ said Hurlston.
John Olsen speaks passionately about his NGV exhibition; ArtsHub You Tube channel
Up close and personal: curating a legend
Olsen himself is a Renaissance man, who loves poetry and cooking and is famously thirsty for knowledge. Now 88 and still in remarkably good health he maintains the passion that is so visible in his work.
‘John is somebody who has gone through those tests across a career, and with that comes a freedom. His passion is infectious,’ said Hurlston. ‘I think it is good for people to see that a career as an artist is fulfilling.’
For Olsen there has only been one way to live. ‘His advice to young artists would be “don’t ever lose sight of passion and learn to play”. There is an overt earnestness that goes on today.
The challenge for Hurlston and co-curator Deborah Edwards, of the AGNSW, was to curate a survey that reflected the nuances and breadth of the legendary artist. He went to the source.
‘I asked John what it was that he thought being an artist meant. His answer was that “artists are born, they can’t be trained.”’
The exhibition opens with Olsen’s own hand replacing the standard vinyl lettering title signage, and continues with his voice across the exhibition via quotes and interviews.
John Olsen, The You Beaut Country Photo: Wayne Taylor
‘His personal diaries will be shown for the first time. They include cuttings, scribbles, drawings, recipes, and comments about things seen. They are a wonderful snapshot of John Olsen the person and the artist,’ said Hurlston.
‘His personal diaries will be shown for the first time. They include cuttings, scribbles, drawings, recipes, and comments about things seen. They are a wonderful snapshot of John Olsen the person and the artist,’ said Hurlston.
‘There is even a dinner setting that was commissioned by a Melbourne collector. The owner says likes it so much he uses it all the time even using it to eat his baked beans on toast.’
Installation view of ceramic dinner setting created in 1970; courtesy the artist
The dinner setting is in fact a ceramic setting for 16 people commissioned in 1970 and thrown by master potter Robert Mair, which is presented banquet-style in the gallery space. The calligraphic mark-making with glazes was a natural fit for Olsen, always willing to embrace a new medium.
‘There is a strong sense of John in the exhibition. He called the other day to say our entry signage had turned into a landscape,’ laughed Hurlston.
‘John doesn’t have email so we have made a point of speaking on the phone every second day, doing visits and posting things – yes, in the mail.’
New work, new perspectives
The last major survey of Olsen opened at NGV in 1991 and travelled to Art Gallery of NSW in 1992, a pattern the new exhibition will follow but with the intervening years added – another 25 years of work.
The most recent work in the show was made in July this year, the next installment of Olsen’s The you beaut country – his signature series commenced in 1960.
Hurlston said that despite our affection and familiarity with Olsen’s work there are many surprises in this new survey.
While Olsen’s sketchbooks will be a treat for viewers, ‘the real surprise will be the ceiling works,’ he said.
One measuring 4.3 x 3.9 meters – Summer in the you beaut country – has only ever been installed along a wall since the NGV acquired it in 1978. The gallery has designed the seating so that people can lean back and take it in as it was intended – on the ceiling.
Installation view of John Olsen’s ceiling works as seen at NGV Australia; supplied
The exhibition is a loose chronological journey across ten galleries, and clusters Olsen’s work into themes.
From his first exhibition in 1955, visitors will return with Olsen to Europe via the painting Spanish encounter (1960), one of his most recognisible paintings of his career. It was purchased by the AGNSW immediately on its completion.
The exhibition has been designed as an immersive experience for visitors, not unlike entering The you beaut county – there is no foreground, no middle ground, no horizon –and you start to become part of that natural world, of which Olsen was so enamored.
Another highlight is a collection of tapestries, which are rarely shown, including the earliest tapestry Olsen made in 1964 in Portugal. Hurlston said that Olsen sees these as a distinct part of his practice, and it was important that they are seen as part of that holistic world that is Olsen’s oeuvre.
Unlike some survey exhibitions which get bogged down in chronology and milestones, this exhibition takes its cue from Olsen himself. It is an expression of life, pulsating with energy, richly textured and warm in its personal touch, enabling each visitor to feel personally that Olsen is walking with them on the journey.
John Olsen: The You Beaut Country is on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square from 16 September 2016 to 12 February 2017.
This is a ticketed exhibition.
