Adrienne Gaha
A great deal of my work has been to try and make sense of the
abundance of images I take in and use everyday. I enjoy the subjective nature of those selections I make personally and those
images people bring me in response to what they see in my work .This
process accelerates all the time with the increasing availability of
books , the internet and travel.
I have a sort of subjective /objective tug'o'war going on when
deciding which to use with each painting. What it might mean to
combine a photo of violent protesters with a pre-raphaelite image,
how that meaning changes when the formal considerations of colour and
compostion are bought to bear. Perhaps they are best compared to
dreams. Where familiar things from different worlds becomes strange
because of their juxtaposition. The interpretations we make in our
search for a meaning. The paintings are an attempt to keep as much as
possible without total confusion.
The images I use are sometimes sentimental, marginalised by their
evocations of imperialism, patriachy, religion , covert sexuality or
kitsch. They are strangely compelling to me, and I want to know why.
"Purple foal" draws on the books I have kept from my childhood, Dr
Seuss, horse books, and the strangely glamorous images of pre-
revolutionary Chinese western-style advertisments.
ADRIENNE GAHA
(1960 Born Sydney) Lives and works in London, UK
Studies
1979-82 East Sydney Tech. College, Higher Art Certificate
1984-85 Sydney College of the Arts, BA Visual Arts
Selected solo exhibitions
1986 Cockles and Muscles, Mori Gallery, Sydney
1987 The Crossing, First Draft Gallery, Sydney
1990 The Camels Hump, Mori Gallery, Sydney
A Merchant Sailors Gift, Chameleon, Hobart (Artist in Residence of that year)
1993 Recent Work, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Adrienne Gaha, The Merchants House of the National Trust, Sydney
1998 Drawings & Photographs, Charles Nodrum Gallery
1999 Recent Drawings, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2004 Recent Works (with Brooke Fitzsimmons), Hewer Street Studios, London
2006 Recent Works (with Brooke Fitzsimmons), Hewer Street Studios, London
2006 London Paintings & Drawings, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Selected group exhibitions
1982 Womens Work, Cell Block Theatre, Sydney
1983 Bunker to Bunker, Art Unit, Sydney
1984 Last Past the Post-ism, Art Unit, Sydney
1985 Perspecta, Art Gallery of N.S.W.
1986 Young Contemporaries, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
The Hand and the Photograph, The Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
Future Directions, Flaxman Gallery, London
Self-Image, The Immolation Mirage, 1986 Biennale
Satellite Exhibition, The Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery
1987 The Golden Shibboleth, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
Young Australians - The Budget Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, and touring.
Drawing Competition, Heide Park & Art Gallery
Backlash, National Gallery of Victoria
1988 Contemporary Works from the University Collection, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Tasmania
Print Show, Pomeroy & Perdy Gallery, London
Homage to the Square, Flaxman Gallery, London
1989 re-Creation/Re-creation, Monash University Gallery
1992 Inherited Absolute, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
1995 In the Company of Women, 100 years of Australian
Women's Art from the Cruthers Collection, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art
1996 Blondes, Gaha & Maguire, Galene Snoei, Rotterdam, Holland
1998 Erotic, Melbourne Fine Art Gallery
Spring Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
2001 Male Nude: A Private View, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2002 The Human Portrayed, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Savill Contemporary, Savill Galleries, Melbourne
Collections
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Monash University Museum of Art
University of Tasmania
ArtBank
Private & Corporate collection in Australia, France, UK & USA
