ROSALIE GASCOIGNE

1. ROSALIE GASCOIGNE

2. ARTIST ROSALIE GASCOIGNE 1917-1999 Born-Auckland BA in arts – taught English in high schools 1943 moved to Canberra to marry astronomer Lived near Mt Stromlo Observatory 1962 took Ikebana classes (flower arranging) (translates to awareness of nature) (Sogetsu emphasizing line and form with colour coming after) Never went to art school – never learnt to paint or draw First exhibition age 57 1982 – chose to represent Australia In 40th Venice Biennale collector Worked on her dining room table until 1983

3. ARTWORK Leaves everything outside -weathered materials assemblages Work constructed from found materials - things other people discard Works for three hours at a time Tools – hacksaw, hammer, screwdriver, band saw etc Does the work herself (helpers are for finished works) Method of working involves living with her assemblages, gradually observing them and changing them until she feels they are right Materials – sheets of corrugated iron, soft drink crates, sections of blistering masonite Emotional response, memories, intuitions – observations of the physical elements of area Yellow represents New Zealand’s yellow acacia tree’s golden flower Text – use of letter forms and titles – English teacher & poetry, imagery – play with words Minimal intervention – selection & creation mutually dependent

4. repetition serial production use of grid Critical review: “Gascoigne ..one of the finest of Australian artists using objects trouves and saw her ‘box’ arrangements of highway detritus, postcards and discards as Dadaist with intent”1970

5. Sydney Biennale 2002

6. Birdsong 1999

7. Honey Bees, 1992

8. WORLD Australian landscape Great Southern Highlands bareness 1960- started to rummage from official dumps – Bungendore – found abandoned sideshow –dolls gallery birds inspired many box works -Victorian & Edwardian bric-a-brac space skies Collector Dump = first retro –reflective road sign Captain Flats, an old mining own 65km south of Canberra

10. crops changes – daily/seasonal topography brittle vegetation vista of landscape metropolis Grass fest, 1999

11. White city, 1993 All that jazz

13. Forty acre block Painted wood, metal and collage, 1977

14. Inland sea, 1986

15. AUDIENCE Role of the Art Critic: Her works are as good as memory and illustrations suggest. Many have become iconic in any overview of the last three decades of Australian art, and yet when seen again their strength invites us to find something new, valid and unexpected in both the formalist rigour of their assemblage and arrangement and in the poetic suggestiveness and mobility of surface, recalling the transcendental nuance of Rothko's work and offering a validation of non-representational intellectualism as a fundamental value in art. Juliette Piers; Artlink 2009 Role of the Art Historian: Gascoigne’s works celebrate the beauty of Australia’s natural landscape by interpreting it through different everyday objects…. Weathered timber, rusted metal, and faded and peeling paint are hallmarks of Gascoigne’s distinct visual style. Her sculptural forms reflect a past history or remnant from times gone by; the aged and deteriorated state of her materials suggesting a life already lived. Drew Bickford—Education and Public Programs Officer, Gallery A, Sydney General members of the public How has the audience changed over time and brought different meaning to the artworks, the artist and interpretations of the world?