While good art can can be enjoyed in many forms (books, posters, postcards, Insta shots), I always urge people to imbibe great works up close if they can. No matter how well you think you know an artwork from its reproductions, the original artefact can always slap some surprise into you once you confront the true colour balance, tonal intensity, nuances of brush work and the choice of scale.
The Cressida Campbell exhibition now showing at the National Gallery of Australia is a case study of artworks that could never adequately be appreciated from afar. Her massive works loom over you and entice you to creep up to within breathing distance to appreciate the subtle ripples in the paint, or the groove of her underdrawings that are etched into her wood panels.
Her works predominately feature cosy domestic interiors, a prissy subject matter that I’d normally sniff at as dull, or wince at as claustrophobia-inducing. But Campbell’s works exude an ornateness, a sense of harmonious order and allure. Her homely scenes feel bathed in a sunlight and, as you feel drawn in to catch the effect of dappling light, you realise that this visual vivacity is achieved using the smallest variances of soft hues. Kinda hard to explain as you have to be there. So in short, get there!
If you’re unfamiliar with her work, then I won’t entirely spoil the plot by explaining her fastidious and unique technique, but let’s just say she’ll have you seeing double. Skip Bonnie Doon this long weekend and find the serenity at the National Gallery instead.
Exhibition Catalogue:
Hardcover (nil dust jacket), 12 x 9.4 inches, 264 pages (ISBN 9780642335012). Reasonably well illustrated, with a focus on exhibited works.
