howard arkley
"Howard Arkley is widely recognised as the foremost painter of Australian suburbia. He rejected the landscape tradition, as the artist John Brack had beforehand, celebrating instead the ubiquity of images embedded in urban and suburban environments with his vibrant airbrushed paintings. His signature houses, domestic interiors and fascination with mass culture struck a powerful chord with contemporary Australians who readily identified with them. Suburban motifs, patterns and textures offered Arkley endless possibilities for abstract compositions which blurred the distinctions between High Art and Pop culture by referencing both art history and the everyday experience.
Simultaneously serene and edgy, Arkley’s work creates an intriguing tension between the inherent beauty of suburbia and its darker more menacing side."
(http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/arkley/education/essays01.html (accessed 23/11/2014)
Simultaneously serene and edgy, Arkley’s work creates an intriguing tension between the inherent beauty of suburbia and its darker more menacing side."
(http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/arkley/education/essays01.html (accessed 23/11/2014)
Click on these buttons either side to view websites with valuable information about Arkley and his work. Below is a short You Tube film also giving you better understanding
of his work. |
warm up task
Click on the interactive button to go to NGV website and create two versions of the house above. The first I want you to be conservative and the second more creative even 'crazy'. Email me your results