Last night we braved (former) Cyclone Debbie’s downpour to visit the Auckland Gallery during one of their Open Late events. One of the pieces in the current exhibit (The Body Laid Bare: Masterpieces from Tate) is this, Men Shall Know Nothing of This, from Max Ernst:
I was immediately reminded of the circles in Hilma af Klint‘s Swan series:
As usual, I can find no evidence that she influenced him, but what are facts, anyway… I’m convinced.
Meanwhile. When I was in Hobart in 1998 hanging out with art school students, one of them was also working on similarly massive painting featuring a similar circle in the blue+white+red palette. I have no clue how I would track him down at this stage (was he called Nicky? Seemed like they were all named Nicky?) other than via a photo I took of him on a beach… that view, of the water and the bay behind him, has firmly ensconced itself in my conscious mind as a visual metaphor that continues to inspire me, but it’s not a circle, so that story will have to wait for some future post.
Elizabeth Ü 