The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the first state art museum featuring a survey exhibition of the work of one of Australia’s most respected abstract painters, Lesley Dumbrell.
The comprehensive retrospective charts Dumbrell’s career over more than five decades, revealing her unique and enduring preoccupation with, and the organising power, of the grid.
The works in Dumbrell’s exhibition entitled THRUM was a pioneer of the emerging abstract art movement in late 20th Century Melbourne. Dumbrell’s works on display range from experimental and unfinished studies on paper to highly realised paintings to recent forays in to sculpture, but what remains constant throughout is the artist’s mastery of colour, movement and rhythm.
Art Gallery Curator of Australian art Anne Ryan found her works highly stimulating and a privilege to present the artist’s boldness of vision, but also quietly reflects the changing social dynamics that have been a feature of the artist’s life and times.
Now residing between Bangkok and regional Victoria, Dumbrell continues to explore colour and form via water-jet-cut metal sculpture.
The exhibition is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales goes to the 13th October 2024 and admission is free.
Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum
