l have always thought my studio time is like a meditation – it’s just that the time painting goes so fast. Even if l miss a day in the studio l feel l need to draw, it’s like somehow trying to document your day. – Peter Wegner 2021
Peter Wegner’s works are compelling and poignant representations of moments experienced.
His revered and renowned oil paintings of the battered and worn armchairs that occupy his work space are masterful renderings of monumental forms that consist of emptiness. Each of these chairs bears the marks and scars of their particular history, and through Wegner’s close observation and reverence for his subject, we feel the sitter profoundly present in the representation of their absence.
As Robert Nelson perceptively writes: ‘Wegner’s way of painting is congruent with the subject matter. The irregularity of the old chairs is painterly in itself, with tears and incidents riddling their form. The tendency of the upholstery to break up or gather a patina of grazes and bumps compares with Wegner’s idiom, which is battered by the brush, full of movement and change, a demonstrative give and take with thrust and slide that works happily with the weathered textures of the furniture.’
This exhibition showcases an exquisite series of recent armchair paintings as well as magnificent large scale portraits in oil.
Above image details: Jenny Rodgerson Mum’s orange cardigan 2024 oil on linen 60 x 40 cm Congratulations to Jenny Rodgerson and …
Above Image: Peter Wegner (right) pictured with subject Sylvia Drager (centre) at Benalla Art Gallery 2022 Peter Wegner continues …
Image: Cover of Spectrum, The Age, October 30 2021 We asked Archibald winner Peter Wegner to paint himself at 100. …
Image above: Orest Keywan That Line 2023 steel 168 x 271 x 190cm Congratulations to Orest Keywan, Michael Snape and …
Image above: Andrew Antoniou Weird & Wonderful 2024 charcoal on paper 82 x 88 cm Congratulations to Andrew Antoniou who …
Image above: Christine Wrest-Smith Portrait of Susan Johnson oil on linen 122 x 92cm Congratulations to Christine Wrest-Smith who has been …
Image above: Deborah Williams The air smells different 2023 aquatint intalgio 53×39.5cm Congratulations to Deborah Williams, Martin King and Phillip …
Image above: Sarah Tomasetti From Balpatta X 2024 145 x 150 cm pigment oil and marble dust on fresco Congratulations to Holly …
Image above (left to right): Graeme Drendel Portrait of Rick 2024 oil on canvas 41 x 31 cm | Michelle Hiscock …
Image above: Janet Luxton Giant Australian Cuttlefish 2021 oil on canvas 120x160cm Congratulations to Janet Luxton who has had two …
Above image: Wayne Eager, Allegory I 2023 oil on linen 95 x 133 cm Wayne Eager was interviewed by Janet …
Image above: Marina Strocchi The vineyards of Madden’s Lane 2023 acrylic on linen 122 x 152 cm Congratulations to Kate …
Congratulations to Jennifer Keeler – Milne for being selected as a finalist in the Ravenswood Art Prize 2024 for her …