Image above: Mary Tonkin The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama 2022-23 oil on linen 183 x 248 cm. Photographed by Matthew Stanton.
Congratulations to Graeme Drendel, Paul S. Miller, Jennifer Keeler-Milne, Glenn Morgan, Rodney Pople, Jenny Rodgerson, and Mary Tonkin, whose works are included in the 2023 Salon des Refusés at S.H. Ervin Gallery.
The Salon des Refusés is the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection from works entered into the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting and figure sculpture. Initiated in 1992, this exhibition responds to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize, held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which were not selected for display in the official exhibition.
Each year, the panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the Archibald and Wynne Prizes to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition.
Congratulations to our represented artists who were included in this year’s Salon des Refusés for the following works:
Mary Tonkin – The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama
Graeme Drendel – Portrait of Hertha (Hertha Kluge-Pott, artist)
Paul S. Miller – Cut to the Bone (self-portrait)
Glenn Morgan – The talented photographer Mr Rod McNicol (photographer)
Rodney Pople – FF descending a staircase (Felicity Fenner, curator)
Jenny Rodgerson – Self Portrait – Stumble
Jennifer Keeler-Milne – Golden Beech
The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s most well-known and respected awards which attracts hundreds of entries each year. The Salon des Refusés has similarly established an excellent reputation rivalling the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape.
2023 Salon des Refuses
National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery
Watson Road, Millers Point (The Rocks), Sydney
6 May – 23 July 2023
Of her work The shimmer of Spring’s mellowing, Kalorama, (pictured at top) Mary Tonkin says: “Made in a tree fern gully, this painting began in the first glorious trumpet blast of Spring, when the ferns were plump, vertical and verdant. Then it rained, and rained and rained. The painting continued, between new creeks, and into high Summer as the ferns sagged and shrivelled. It felt as though I was painting with a new awareness of the frailty and brevity of life, the shimmer of its Being.”
Graeme Drendel Portrait of Hertha (Hertha Kluge-Pott, artist) oil on canvas 30 x 26 cm.
“Yesterday I had the pleasure of painting and talking with Hertha Kluge-Pott, brilliant printmaker and mentor to so many students over her long life.” – Graeme Drendel
Paul S. Miller – Cut to the Bone (self-portrait) 2023 dry brush watercolour and pencil on paper 102 x 132 cm.
Paul S. Miller’s unique visual language is utterly uncontrived and unobtrusive, his works are profoundly relatable and inspire a poignant emotional response.
Glenn Morgan The talented photographer Mr Rod McNicol (photographer) acrylic on board 59 x 121 cm.
Glenn Morgan’s sense of humour, integrity and masterful skill as a storyteller are always present in his works. The honesty and openness in his bright, bustling sculptures immediately engage the viewer and draw us in for a closer look.
Jenny Rodgerson Self Portrait – Stumble oil on linen 107 x 168 cm.
Jenny Rodgerson’s figurative paintings are powerful. They embody both a stillness and a potent sense of inhabited presence. In her distinctive self-portraits, the contrast between nuanced light and shade combines with a bold sense of colour to arrive at an arresting resolve that captures the essence, or what Wittgenstein would call, the “whatness” of the subject.
Jennifer Keeler-Milne Golden Beech (Mt Wilson) 2023 oil on linen canvas 76 x 184 cm.
“Golden Beech (Mt Wilson) is a painted response to the overwhelming beauty of the autumn foliage I witnessed last May when I spent a month as artist-in-residence in the Blue Mountains village of Mt Wilson. Beach trees lined many of the streets and captivated my imagination as they literally shone out!” – Jennifer Keeler-Milne
Rodney Pople FF descending a staircase (Felicity Fenner, curator) oil on linen 207 x 141 cm.
Rodney Pople is an interdisciplinary artist that works across various mediums such as painting, photography and sculpture. Pople is a multi-award winning artist who received the 2016 Paddington Art Prize, the 2012 Glover Prize, 2014 Fishers Ghost Prize, 2009 NSW Parliament Art Prize and 2008 Sulman Prize. He was recently a finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize, the Muswellbrook Art Prize and the Glover Prize in 2020, as well as the 65th Blake Prize and the Mosman Art Prize in 2018, and has been selected for the Archibald and Wynne Prize over 12 times since 2000.