Brought to Light Australian Art 1850-1965

Ian Fairweather MO, PB and the ti-tree 1965 Synthetic polymer paint on cardboard on hardboard 70.8x96.3cm Gift of Miss Pamela Bell 1996 Queensland Art Gallery Ian Fairweather's camp, Bribie Island. Photograph courtesy Queensland Newspapers Interior of Ian Fairweather's hut. Photograph by Pierre Ryckmans In his work Ian Fairweather gave new movement to static form, while exaggerating shapes and patterns with almost mannerist intent. Through the rhythm and balance of his line, he painted the essence of an idea, 'a grand display of linear ecstasies'. Through reduced form he was able to convey ideas of complexity and beauty. With a typically down-to-earth manner, the artist himself said: Painting is not something that must be understood. If the picture is for you it will produce an almost physical sensation, something of joy, ofwonder — a tug to the gut. Don't go trying to understand it.19 Fairweather only partly succeeded in his search for himself. He was always the outsider, the stranger, the small boy with his nose pressed against the glass, looking in. Nevertheless, he achieved some sense of self through his craft. Perhaps for this alone he was luckier than most; he did not need to live with others in the common way — he had a whole world of people' in his paintings and it was for this company that he lived and on whom he projected his thoughts and feelings and even his love.20Fairweather frequently stated that his need to be alone was not the result of contrariness but was genuinely the only way he could devote himself to art. If we think back to his earlier wanderings, we remember that this was not always the case — it was something he developed in himself because, in the end, art was the one thing that stayed with him. Dr Candice Bruce Is the former Curator, Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery 1993-95 and is now an independent curator and consultant in Sydney. 'A GRAND DISPLAY OF LINEAR ECSTASIES' 275