Joe Furlonger: Horizons

11 These were the formative experiences that ultimately gave Furlonger the confidence to paint and draw without constraint as he moved from rapid observation to fully resolved work. The base on which his work is built has always been drawing, whether through painting, printmaking, sculpture or ceramics. It’s the one thing he has relentlessly pursued throughout his career, using line to give form and substance to ideas. QAGOMA is pleased to present the first museum survey of works by a Queenslander whose practice has been refined over decades. Whatever Furlonger’s medium, an uncommon humility underscores his approach; it’s a disarming quality that this exhibition directly confronts, and what he has achieved over his distinguished career is indeed worthy of the closer examination it makes possible. This is an opportunity for a broader public to experience Furlonger’s work in all its brilliant diversity, to trace its reflexive ebbs and flows into and out of different genres and mediums, as he exhausts one then returns for refreshment to another. I would like to acknowledge Michael Hawker, Curator, Australian Art, for highlighting Joe Furlonger’s career in such a sensitive and insightful manner, and Simon Wright, Gillian Osmond and Ruby Awburn for their contributions to this volume, which further enlighten us on Joe’s process, persona and materials. I thank those who have lent work to the exhibition, including the artist himself, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, QUT Art Collection, Bruce Heiser, the University of Queensland, HOTA Gallery, the Australian Catholic University, Pamela Barnett, James Erskine and others. We are indebted to the Gordon Darling Foundation for their generous support of this publication. Finally, my thanks go to Joe Furlonger for producing a body of work that could only have arisen from an intensely focused and sustained curiosity about the world. Early in his career, he is quoted as having a desire to ‘reinforce the positive side of human nature. Life affirming and optimistic. Man as a conquering spirit. The human figure is a painting about life.’ 1 Today, more than three decades later, we can be grateful that Joe Furlonger has kept his gaze on that horizon and, in no small measure, succeeded in affirming life in his adeptly observed landscapes and resolutely human figures. FOREWORD Chinchilla (detail) 2021 ENDNOTES 1 Joe Furlonger, quoted in Moët & Chandon Australian Art Foundation Travelling Exhibition 1988 [exhibition booklet], Moët & Chandon Australian Art Foundation, Sydney, 1988, unpaginated.