Room 90

Have you discovered Room 90 in the British Museum? If not now is a good time to go while they hold the exhibition Out of Australia.   Room 90 is the Gallery where the Museum display Prints and Drawings from their own collections and they usually have at least two differently themed exhibitions each year.  This current exhibition covers works from 1940s to the current day from both indigenous and European descended artists.

From a personal point of view it is the work of the indigenous artists that is the most interesting.  As you enter the gallery there is a large aquatint called Untitled (Leaves) by Gloria Tamerre Pertyarre.  It has a glorious rhythm and movement to it as individual small brushstrokes represent leaves on the wind.  It is this striking handling of pattern within such works that has always fascinated me; there is a dynamism and fluidity that bring them alive.

A colour aquatint entitled ‘Fire Dreaming at Yanjirlpiri’ by Paddy Japapaliarri Sims strong orange and red elements that shine with an intensity that is not often seen in such a print and well worth a closer look.

The exhibition also shows some of the transition that European descended Australian artists followed from the 40s, when you have to remember that access to other styles of western Art was very limited.  Travelling to Europe would take four to six weeks by boat and so many Australian artists would spend a number of years abroad to explore and learn about the leading forms of Contemporary art.  Some would spend most of their careers, based in Europe and in particular London.  It was perhaps not until the 70s that Australian artists did not feel the same need to spend so long abroad to be part of the wider art world.

An artists whose works I had previously seen in Room 90 was Fred Williams, he spent 5 years in London during the Fifties.  When he returned home he saw the Australian landscape anew and it changed the direction of his work from realistic figurative pieces to more abstracted landscapes making a strong use of marks, which still look remarkably fresh.

Two other personal favourites were drawings by Brent Harris from 1999.  They are studies for large paintings.  Silhouetted forms are fluid and dripping and play with negative and positive space.

So remember Room 90, there are always fascinating works to be found.