Tom Parry
THERE’S a piece in the Gippsland Art Gallery which has caused quite a stir these past three months.
The piece in question is titled “A Masked Alert”, an oil-on-canvas work painted by Australian surrealist James Gleeson.
Since March, Gleeson’s painting has taken up residence in the John Leslie Gallery, promoted as a “Proposed Acquisition”.
Its staunchest proponent, arguably, is Gallery director Simon Gregg, who admits to having a “personal attachment” to Gleeson’s work.
“When I was studying painting, I was about ready to give up – I didn’t know what to do, and I hit a dead-end,” Mr Gregg told the Gippsland Times.
“And I saw a Gleeson retrospective at the National Gallery (of Victoria) in Melbourne, and my jaw just hit the floor.
“I couldn’t believe what he’d done with paint – completely blew me away and inspired me for years after that to keep painting.
“I no longer paint now, but at that time… it was completely transformational.”
Mr Gregg describes Gleeson as the “best-known Australian surrealist”, likening his work to acclaimed 20th-century artists such as Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, as well as English romanticist William Turner.
He argues that with Gleeson, “you might not know what he’s painting, but he’s painting it really well – whatever it is he’s painting.”
In the instance of “A Masked Alert”, it evokes images of the beach: “You’ve got things washed up, coming out of the ocean; there’s a kind of crustacean feel to some of these shapes.”
The artwork is being offered for purchase by the Charles Nodrum Gallery in Richmond, which represents Gleeson’s estate – he passed away in 2008 a month shy of his 93rd birthday.
Mr Gregg is keen on making the work part of the Gippsland Art Gallery’s collection, and not just because he appreciates Gleeson’s artistry.
“Increasingly, we’re trying to look at… artists which would bring people into the region,” Mr Gregg said.
“We’d attract people from Melbourne and further afield if they know we’ve got a major Gleeson work; but it means that people in our community have first-hand access to this level of work as well.”
Photo: Tom Parry
The only problem is, the artwork is being offered for $75,000 – well beyond the Gallery’s budget.
For that reason, “A Masked Alert” is currently being loaned to the Gallery for six months, and Mr Gregg is using this time to “test the waters” and see whether attendees are receptive to the artwork.
The response so far has been mixed.
“What I’m hearing about the Gleeson is that people either absolutely love it, or it just leaves them a bit cold,” Mr Gregg said.
“So it’s kind of dividing people a bit, which has been interesting.”
He added that younger attendees were being drawn to the work, and he was “not too surprised” by the divided reaction.
A fundraising drive is currently underway to raise the $75,000 for the artwork’s purchase.
The initiative follows a similar drive last year, when the community successfully raised $40,000 for the purchase of two 19th-century paintings by John G. Sutherland.
Both artworks took pride of place in the Gallery’s Gifted 2 exhibition throughout autumn.
While the Gallery is currently short of its monetary target, Mr Gregg holds out hope that it will be able to purchase James Gleeson’s work before its loan concludes in September.
“There could be ways and means, you never quite know,” he said.
“If we are able to keep it, it’ll certainly have a central place in the Gallery’s collection.
“We’ve got a number of pieces that are vaguely surrealist, but nothing as outwardly surrealist as this, so it would take the collection in a slightly new direction, I suppose.”
Gippsland Art Gallery will be launching its Winter Season this Friday, June 2.
It will also be hosting a talk by one of its featured artists, Rohan Hutchinson this Saturday, June 3.
For more information about both events, head to www.gippslandartgallery.com/events