The allure of abstract art is a mysterious thing. But an artist with 50+ years’ experience in the genre sheds light on why these paintings draw us in – especially in tumultuous times.
Installation view of Trevor Vickers // Quiet Paintings exhibition at WA Art Collective, 2024. Photo: Robert Frith, Acorn Photo.
It’s a well-worn cliché to say we live in uncertain times. But the events of the past five years have left many of us feeling like these are the noisiest and most chaotic times of our lives.
As former Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) Director Rhana Devenport said of her gallery’s then record-breaking survey exhibition of tonalist painter Clarice Beckett’s work in 2021, “At a time of regrowth and recalibration, here are these incredibly modest and physically small paintings that possess tremendous power.”
ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
