del Kathryn barton • The highway is a disco

•

Published To Accompany the Exhibition at Arndt Singapore October 31 – December 6, 2015

ArnDt Art Agency

≥ 2015 ≥ Contents

4 Introduction

9 Studio

19 Paintings 81 Sculpture 95 Collages 117 Film

127 Appendix 129 Biography 133 List of Works 133 Acknowledgments Introduction cutesy red shoes, spotty socks and a look of imperious detachment an expression which is found at the core of all Del’s paintings with their focus By Michael Young on womanhood and creation spiced with a hefty frisson of sexuality. “The sexuality … naturally evolves. There is a part of me that doesn’t always understand that but in terms of the vulnerable, exposed, empowered female (it) is something that I am very passionate about.” Del brought my attention firmly back to earth preempting a question asked by others so many times before. What does it all means? “I feel less Australian artist Del Kathryn Barton has a fertile imagination that capriciously need to explain the narratives … or be too analytic about them,” she said. She leads her down metaphorical Alice in Wonderland rabbit holes in pursuit of asserts her painting is not a cerebral process. “Everything just bubbles up”, the charms, amulets and mysticism that inform her paintings. When we met she said. at her studio earlier this year she announced that she wanted to be, “… a furry The wellspring from which everything bubbles up can be found in naked woman riding a blue bunny into the universe.” Tongue-in-cheek perhaps her childhood and the hallucinatory states she would go into, and the body but conjuring a beautiful image, which, like her art, is surreal, otherworldly boundary confusion she experienced as well as the synesthesia that kept her and somehow totally plausible and seems to exist in a parallel universe ruled “head a kilometer from the real world”. Her constant passion for drawing over by doe-eyed anthropomorphic creatures that are fierce, feminine and proved a salve for her anxieties. “I often felt I had too much energy in my decidedly self-referential. body and didn’t know what to do with it,” she said. However the excess of Del’s studio is in a quiet inner-city Sydney suburb and is a circa 1960s energy she experienced in her adolescent years has come to serve her well. rather anonymous brick building somewhat out of character with the locale. In the studio as part of this bubbling process Del was working flat out Internally the walls and ceiling are painted white with harsh fluorescent lights on several signature paintings and a suite of collages which she will show that emit an omnipresent glow; the floor is carpeted and splattered with paint for the first time at Matthias Arndt’s Singapore gallery. She works slowly that spreads in elongated arcs. The building is angular and boxy with a roller painting virtually every tiny ornate and succulent mark on every canvas with door at the front large enough for a small truck to drive in. Architecturally it is just the help of her one assistant, Liz Ellis. “I struggle to make enough work unprepossessing. Del has worked here for three years having moved from her for everyone,” she said. Several weeks out from the exhibition opening both previous studio – “which was bigger with higher ceilings” – to be close to the remain confident that everything will be finished on time. Even so there were schools that her children began attending. But for the usual studio clutter it is moments during the creative process which both described as “terrifying”. all very ordinary and domestic; toys, small dogs sniffing about and children’s The ARNDT Singapore exhibition will be Del’s first solo show outside drawings do seem at odds with a world inhabited by naked females riding Australia and marks an important milestone in a career that began in the early blue rabbits. But behind the roller doors Del inhabits a richly imaginative 1990s and which has seen her twice win Australia’s Archibald Portrait Prize world as she navigates mystical fantasies and folkloric adventures peopled the annual open portrait competition staged by the Art Gallery of New South by imperious women with their harems of familiars. Wales. In 2008 she won with a self portrait with her children and in 2013 with Inside the studio the blue bunny Del mentioned was painted on a a portrait of actor Hugo Weaving. 4 large canvas which leant casually against a wall. The woman sits astride the 5 In the studio reference material inhabits every surface; numerous creature her white thighs covered with fetishistic markings as ornate as photographs cut from magazines and scribbled notes are stuck to the walls. Polynesian tatau and her breasts pronounced and fecund. She wears only Detritus clusters on several tables; jars of dried flowers, piles of sketch-books and art books are ubiquitous, plastic cups filled with Art Deco colored liquids, and the Rose based on a dark tale of the same name by Irish Victorian permanent markers, tubes of paint, color daubes on pieces of paper, Polaroid playwright and poet Oscar Wilde. Various delays, false starts and production photographs. On one wall is a large hand drawn calendar with mauve Post-it problems dragged the process out to two years. notes marking deadlines – one day in October is filled by a drawing of a large Premiered this year at the Berlin International film Festival The bloated blood-red heart. I preferred not to ask why. In the furthest corner Nightingale and the Rose is a story of unrequited love that a young male are several shelves housing dozens of neatly arranged tubes of paint, Golden student has for a professor’s daughter. He hopes that presenting her with a mostly, an American made water-borne acrylic paint that “performs like red rose will win him favor. The flower proves to be elusive but the nightingale a wash, like oil dropped in water” allowing Del to apply the delicate color goes off in pursuit none-the-less with dire consequences and dies an washes directly onto the raw white canvas for which she had become known. erotically charged death impaled on a long penetrating thorn that pierces It is a delicious anarchic clutter. Overseeing this mélange of creativity and the bird’s heart. Crawling around the studio floor on all fours alongside her perched high on a window ledge is an Amethyst Cathedral Geode. Amethyst two dogs Del showed me the miniature house shaped boxes which she has I later learned stimulates and soothes the mind and the emotions and is had made to contain the editions of the animation. Last month (August 2015) considered to be a powerful psychic stone of protection against witchcraft the animation won the best Australian Short film award at the Melbourne and black magic. Quite so. International Film festival. Del was ecstatic. And among this maelstrom are the paintings. Some are finished having As I am about to leave the studio I notice on one wall something written been worked up into Del’s complexity of color, of dots and dashes, tiny marks, by Del. ‘I am not a woman but a world’, it reads. The statement says a lot wet paint trickles, watery pools of color, and multi-colored marks that flash about Del whose position in the world is defined by a symbolic language that like fish-scales. Other canvasses have only just begun their individual journeys articulates what it means to exist in the multiple guises of womanhood and to from raw white surface others are marked with sinuous lines from the maker tread a finely balanced path between fantasy and domesticity. pens with which Del starts every painting. The large diptych on show here During our studio conversation Del has made it clear that was little more than two empty conjoined canvases standing on empty plastic understanding on a cerebral level is not a pre-requisite for coming to grips paint buckets with color flushing out from the left-hand side. with her art and that perhaps an intuitive visceral response is enough. On all sides is a menagerie of polymorphous characters skirmishing for “I really like … not knowing and just being inside the process and this attention. And always the same female faces stare out, angular and precisely is what arouses me every morning … something interesting and powerful can but lightly sketched they confront but refuse to engage with the world at come out of working with things you don’t understand,” she said. With that large. Always the same face, I ask? “They arrive at a similar place in terms of the roller door dropped down behind me and I left the furry naked bunny the emotionality … I am always looking for a duality between presence and firmly ensconced in the 1960s building but ultimately, en route to Singapore. absence looking out but being within,” Del said. Pinned to the wall alongside the diptych is something unfamiliar. It is a grid of A4 images created on a computer. They are early sketches for the suite of collages that go under the somewhat risqué rubric, Flower Porn and which Del will show for the first time in Singapore. “The figures are pretty 6 much all naked,” she said. 7 Even though Del works slowly nothing quite prepared her for the time that it took to make her first animation, the 13 minute long The Nightingale 1 Studio

9

15

2 Paintings

19 20 the highway is a disco, 2015 acrylic on French linen 240 × 180 cm 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

32 wild carrot dream, 2015 acrylic on French linen 160 × 140 cm 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 the cosmos is disco lust, 2015 acrylic on French linen, diptych 180 × 240 cm each <−− − Open 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 within my pleats, 2015 acrylic on French linen 160 × 140 cm 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 openly song, 2014 acrylic on linen 244 × 183 cm 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 we will ride, 2014 acrylic on linen 260 × 199 cm 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 2 Sculpture

81 82 to feel, 2015 bronze, baby arm handball 35 cm diameter, plinth 84 × 84 × 84 cm 84 85 87 88 with flowers, 2015 bronze, spider 80 × 48 × 75 cm, plinth 84 × 84 × 84 cm 90 91 92 93 3 Collages

95 96 inside another land 1–15, 2015 archival print on cotton rag with acrylic paint 58.5 × 83 cm each, with border 69 × 83 cm 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 4 Film

117 118 the nightingale and the rose, 2014 film 15 minutes

122 123

5 Appendix

127 Biography

DEL KATHRYN BARTON 2009 to whom it may concern: the written word in contemporary art, Born 1972, Sydney, Australia Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne Lives and works in Sydney, Australia 2009 IKEA Home Project, Carriage Works, Sydney 2009 Red Exhibition, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney Education 2009 Newtown Diaries, Delmar Gallery, Sydney 2009 Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1990–93 Bachelor of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, 2009 Figuration Now, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne University of New South Wales, Sydney 2008–09 NEW: Selected Recent Acquisitions 2007–2008, uq Art Museum, Brisbane 2008 Optimism, Queensland Art Gallery Triennial, Queensland Selected Solo Exhibitions 2008 Leading Lights, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales 2015 the highway is a disco, ARNDT Gallery, Singapore 2008 Beastly, MOP projects, Sydney 2014 electro orchid, RoslynOxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2008 neo-goth: back in black, uq Art Museum, Brisbane 2013 pressure to the need, RoslynOxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney 2012–13 The Nightingale and the Rose and New Work, Newcastle Art Gallery 2008 Show Me Your World, Gitte Weise Galerie, Berlin 2012 del kathryn barton new work, RoslynOxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2008 The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2012 the nightingale and the rose, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne 2007 Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2011 satellite fade-out, RoslynOxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2007 Strange Beauty, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne 2009 the stars eat your body, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney 2007 The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2008 the whole of everything, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne 2007 Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2007 Del Kathryn Barton, Penrith Regional Gallery, New South Wales 2006 Melbourne Art Fair, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne 2006 please. don’t stop. Kaliman Gallery, Sydney 2006 Girl Band, Deloitte Foundation, Sydney 2005 thankyou for loving me, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne 2006 Fantastic Voyage, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney 2004 Girl, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney 2004 National Works on Paper 2004, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2002 Drawings and Objects, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney Victoria 2001 Drawings from California, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney 2004 Del Kathryn Barton, Cathy Blanchflower, Derek O’Connor, Monika Tichacek, 1999 Unreflective Immersions, Kudos Gallery, College Of Fine Arts, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne University of New South Wales, Sydney 2003 Octopus 4: More Real Than Life, Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, 1996 Recent Paintings and Drawings, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney Melbourne 1995 Recent Paintings and Drawings, Arthaus Gallery, Sydney 2003 After Dark, My Sweet, Kudos Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney Selected Group Exhibitions 2002 National Works on Paper 2002, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria 2015 Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art 2002 Half a World Away: Drawings from Glasgow, Sao Paulo and Sydney, 2015 Sydney Contemporary International Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Centre, Buffalo, New York 2015 Hong Kong International Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery 2002 Circus, The Studio, Sydney Opera House, Sydney 2015 Art Stage Singapore International Art Fair, ARDNT Gallery Berlin, Singapore 2001 Anxiety: The Drawn Figure, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney 2014 Express Yourself: Romance was born for kids, National Gallery of Victoria 2001 Context, Kudos Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, 2014 The Gold Award, Rockhampton Art Gallery Sydney; Wattspace Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales 2014 Dark Heart, Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art 2001 Dissonance 2001, Kudos Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New 2013 The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney South Wales, Sydney 2012 Louise Bourgeois and Australian Artists, Heide Museum of Modern Art, 2000 Thinking Aloud: A Drawing Show, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney Melbourne 1999 The World Music Festival – Carnivali 1999, collaboration with Tufa 2012 Theatre of the World, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania (Visual Component), The Studio, Sydney Opera House, Sydney 2012 Lightness and Gravity, Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland 1999 New Ten in Transit, Project Centre for Contemporary Art, Wollongong, 2012 Hong Kong International Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery New South Wales 2011 The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1998 Four on the Floor, Gallery 19, Sydney 2011 Hong Kong International Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery 1997 The Fishers Ghost Prize, Campbelltown Arts Gallery, New South Wales 2011 Wattle – Contemporary Australian Art, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong 1996 The Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship, The Works Gallery, 2011 Out Of The Comfort Zone, Customs House, Sydney College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2011 Basic Instinct, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne 1996 The Traveling Blake Prize for Religious Art, Orange Regional Gallery, 2010 Roundabout, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand New South Wales; Campbelltown Arts Gallery, New South Wales; 2010 Freehand, Recent Australian Drawings, Heide Museum Of Modern Art, Hibiscus Gallery, Hobart Melbourne 1996 The Contemporary Collection, The Sir Hermann Black Gallery, 2010 Artist’s Self Portraits, uq Art Museum, Brisbane University of Sydney, Sydney 2010 Wilderness , Balnaves Contemporary Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales 1995 The Sulmann Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2010 Feminism Never Happened, Institute of Modern Art (ima), Brisbane 1995 The Blake Prize for Religious Art, Mitchell Library Gallery, Sydney 2009 The Kedumba Drawing Award, Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls 2009 The University of Queensland National Artist’s Self-Portrait Prize, Motion Works uq Art Museum, Brisbane 2009 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize 2009, Monash Gallery 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, Savannah Film Festival, 24–31 October of Art, Wheelers Hill 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, aff (Adelaide Film Festival), 15–25 October

128 129 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, Graphic Festival Sydney, 11 October News: The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June, pp. 10–11. 2011 The Big Issue, No. 388, 30 August – 12 September, p. 19. 2009 Makin, J, ‘Figuration Now’, Herald Sun Extra, Gallery Snapshot, p. 7. 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, London International Film Festival , 2015 ‘Nightingale and The Rose’, Broadsheet, 17 April, Entertainment. 2011 Hynes, V, nswrap, Australian Art Collector, Issue 57, July – September, p. 243. 2009 Flynn, M, ‘Figuration Now’, catalogue essay, Karen Woodbury Gallery, 7–8 October Available from: [17 April 2015] 2011 Keenan, C, ‘Future Of Australian Collection…’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2009 ‘50 of Australia’s most collectible artist’s’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 47, 10–13 September 2015 ‘Del Kathryn Barton selected for the Berlinale’, Frieze Magazine, No. 169, 4–5 June, p. 13. January – March, p. 195. 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, miff (Melbourne International Film Festival), March. 2011 Burge, S, ‘Fairy Queen’, Harpers Bazaar, May, p. 92. 2009 Kubler, A, ‘‘Shiny happy people’, Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Gallery 30 July – 16 August 2015 Meares, J, ‘Wilde’s Oscar?’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March, p. 30. 2011 The Weekend Australian, Inquirer, 9–10 April, p. 4. of Modern Art (goma), Brisbane’, Art World, Issue 7, February/March, p.15. 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, 55th Krakow Film Festival, 31 May – 7 June 2015 Taylor, A, ‘The Nightingale and The Stars, Romance and the rose’, The Sydney 2011 Bowers, S, ‘Give Them A Break’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19–20 2009 Strickland, K, ‘Hot artists of 2008, smart money’, Financial Review Weekend 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, The Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum Film Morning Herald, 21–22 March, Spectrum, p. Front Cover & pp. 8–9. February, Spectrum, p. 8. Edition, 30 December 2008 – 4 January 2009, p. 46. Festival, March 2015 Power, R, ‘Motherhood and Creativity: The divided heart’, pp. 57–68. 2011 Craven, O, ‘Out Of The Comfort Zone’, Artist Profile, Issue 14, p. 24. 2008 Crawford, A, ‘Karen Woodbury Gallery’, The Age, 13 December, Around the 2015 The Nightingale and The Rose, Generation 14plus competition, 2015 ‘Women of Style: Sydney fashionistas in their own right’, The Daily Telegraph, 2011 ‘50 of Australia’s most collectable artists 2011’, Australian Art Collector, Galleries, A2, p. 26. 65th Berlinale Film Festival, Berlin Germany, February January. Issue 55, January – March, p. 191. 2008 Current: Contemporary Art from Australia and New Zealand, Art & 2015 ‘The Human Dress’, Art Stage Singapore: Video Stage, January 2015 Prince-Montague, J, ‘Meet the class of 2015’, Marie Claire Australia, Issue 2011 Dobbin, W, ‘Shock of the old and new’, The Sun-Herald, 9 January, Travel Australia, pp. 156–159. 2014 ‘The Human Dress’, Dark Heart, Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art, 233, January, pp. 30–31. section, p. 8. 2008 McDonald, J, ‘Natural order of farce restored’, The Sydney Morning Herald, March – May 2014 Fish, P, ‘Buyers wired up for Oliver, Barton’, The Australian Financial Review, 2011 Nelson, R, ‘Exploring Drawing’s possibilities’, The Age, 19January, p. 14. 15–16 March. 4 December, Salesroom, p. 33. 2011 O’Malley, N, ‘Why this photo cost….’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 January, p. 1. 2008 Page, M, ‘Del Kathryn Barton Sanguine’, Optimism, p. 47. Grants & Awards 2014 ‘10 Favourite Things’, Vogue Living Australia, Issue November/December, p. 208. 2010 Ewington, J, ‘Big Maman – The Curious Case Of Louise Bourgeois And 2008 Mathews, H, ‘Show Me Your World’, catalogue essay. 2014 Galvin, N, ‘Moments in the sun’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’, Art & Australia, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 326–333. 2008 Bush, S, Hill, P, ‘Hot in Melbourne’, Art World UK, Issue 7, October/ 2015 Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film – miff 29–30 November, Spectrum, p. 11. 2010 Waterlow, N, ‘The creation of Contemporary Australian Art’, Art & Australia, November, Review of Exhibitions. (Melbourne International Film Festival) 2014 Stephens, A, ‘Steeped in bush magic’, The Age, 11 October, Spectrum, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 666–667. 2008 Schlte-Fishedick, V, ‘Show Me Your World’, Art & Australia, Vol. 46, No. 1, p. 140. 2015 aftrs Creative Fellowship Grant pp. 14–15. 2010 Triguboff, E, ‘The Art & Australia Contemporary Art Award: Looking back to 2008 NEW: Selected Recent Acquisitions 2007–2008, uq Art Museum, pp. 90–91. 2015 Generation 14plus competition (Nominated), 65th Berlinale Film Festival, 2014 Galambos, E, ‘Interview with industry influencer’, Parlour X blog, the future’, Art & Australia, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 422–423. 2008 Crawford, A, ‘Karen Woodbury Gallery’, The Age, 13 December, Around the Berlin, Germany 23 September. Available from: < http://www.parlourx.com/blog/DEL- 2010 Michael, L, Freehand: Recent Australian Drawing, Heide Museum Of Galleries, A2, p. 26. 2013 Screen Australia Short Animation Production Funding KATHRYN-BARTON-INTERVIEW/> [18 September 2015] Modern Art, Melbourne, pp. 4, 5, 10, 11. 2008 Turner, T, ‘Public cash snub for explicit artists’, The Courier-Mail, 15–16 2013 The Archibald Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2014 Austin, C.W., ‘Fundraisers for mental health’, The Australian, 23 September, 2010 Littley, S, Multiplicities: Self Portraits From The Collection, uq Art Museum, November, p. 3. 2011 The Archibald Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Arts & Entertainment, p. 14. Queensland. 2008 Houghton, D, ‘Inside the X-room’, The Courier-Mail, 15–16 November, pp. 56–65. 2010 The Wynne Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2014 Kroslakova, K, ‘Face Off’, Financial Review, Issue 29, September, 2010 Tunnicliffe, W, Look, Art Gallery Society Of New South Wales, September, 2008 Houghton, D, ‘Adults-only viewing for hot gallery show’, The Courier-Mail, 2008 The Archibald Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Life & Leisure LUXURY, p. 32. pp. 12–13. 14 November, front page. 2007 Dobell Drawing Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2014 ‘The Nightingale and The Rose’, Dumbo Feather, Issue 40, Third Quarter 2014, 2010 Stricland, K, ‘Saleroom’, The Australian Financial Review, 16 September, p. 47. 2008 Coslovich, G, ‘Rising price of a blank canvas’, The Age, 25 August, Metro 2007 The Archibald Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney pp. 114–115. 2010 ‘Pleased to meet you’, Kid’s Wear, Autumn/Winter 2010–11, Vol. 31, Arts & Culture, p. 16. 1996 The Traveling Blake Prize for Religious Art (finalist), Orange Regional 2014 Buchanan, T, ‘MENU Face to face, Belle reader dinner’, Belle Magazine, pp. 126–127. 2008 Birmingham, L, ‘Australia’s Art Market Draws New Collectors After Minerals Gallery, New South Wales; Campbelltown Arts Gallery, New South Wales; Issue February/March, pp. 163–168. 2010 Zuanetti, J, ‘Del Kathryn Barton’, Fallen, Issue 5, pp. 44–47. Boom’, Bloomberg.com, 17 August. Available from: 1995 The Sulmann Prize (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 2013 ‘Madison Mentors’ [arts & entertainment], Madison Magazine, June, p. 55. 2010 ‘Generations shaping Australia’, Madison, Issue 64, June, p. 97. 2008 Merten, M, ‘The Artist: Del Kathryn Barton, Women we love’, Harper’s 1995 The Blake Prize for Religious Art (finalist), Mitchell Library Gallery, Sydney 2013 ‘Cover Carp’, Big Magazine, Issue 4, pp. 12–15. 2010 McKay, J, ‘Women Of Style Awards’, Instyle Australia, Annual Style Issue, Bazaar Australia, September, Bazaar viewpoint, p. 65. 2013 Spring, A, ‘Shifting Focus’, Vogue Australia, May, p. 118. June, p. 131. 2008 ‘Larger than life Barton in Melbourne, Artist Milestones’, Australian Art Collections 2013 Fortescue, E, ‘Wherefore Art Thou’, The Daily Telegraph Best Weekend, 2010 ‘The Art Of Design’, Marie Claire Australia, Issue 178, June pp. 24–34. Collector, 8 July, This Art Week, p. 1. 16–19 March, pp. 4–5. 2010 Wilderness, Balnaves Contemporary: Painting, exhibition catalogue, 2008 Perkin, C, ‘Art lovers exposure fight outside’, The Australian, 3 July, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2012 Keily, A, ‘Mother Tongue’, Vogue Living, November/December, p. 66. 5 March – 23 May, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. The Nation, p. 7. Art Gallery of South Australia 2012 Faulkner, N, ‘Flights of Fancy’, Harpers Bazaar, December, pp. 125–127. 2010 ‘50 of Australia’s Most Collectable Artist’s’, Australian Art Collector, 2008 Moss, E, ‘Del Kathryn Barton: The Whole Of Everything’, Incubate, cofa, Art and Australia, Sydney 2012 Articulate, Art Gallery of South Australia, Spring, p. 1. Issue 51, January – March, p. 206. University of New South Wales (unsw), Winter, pp. 7–10. Artbank 2012 Urankar, C, ‘Table for Six’, Instyle, August, p. 178. 2009 ‘60 Alumni over 60 years’, unsworld, Issue 11, December, p. 20. 2008 Coslovich, G, ‘Stealing a kind of beauty’, The Age, 31 May, Features, A2, bhp Billiton Collection, Melbourne 2012 ‘‘We Do’ July’, Marie Claire Australia, Issue 203, July, p. 50. 2009 Burge, S, ‘Exhibition Home’, Grazia, Issue 68, 30 November, pp. 84–89. pp. 12–13. Esk Collection, Launceston 2012 Nimerawi, A, ‘Lifting the blindfold on censorship’, Capture, May/June, p. 42. 2009 Dabscheck, L, ‘The Dark Side’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 August, 2008 Higson, R, ‘The Face: Del Kathryn Barton’, The Weekend Australian, 3 May, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane 2012 Blake, E, ‘After the Archibalds’, The Sydney Magazine, Issue 108, April, p. 34. the (Sydney) magazine, pp. 60–65. Review, p. 3. Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart 2012 Trocchio, P.D., ‘Clothing, space, art…’, Art Monthly Australia, Issue 249, 2009 Saunders, A, ‘Simply Red’, Marie Clare Australia, No. 166, p. 28. 2008 ‘The Archibald Art Prize’, Joel Australia Report, Feature, p. 14. National Gallery of Australia May, p. 48. 2009 Strickland, K, ‘Bendigo buys a Barton’, Australian Financial Review, 2008 Press, C, ‘A Fine Romance’, Vogue Australia, May, pp. 107–110. racv Collection, Victoria 2012 ‘dawn’, Art Park Journal, Issue 3, March, p. 1. 11 June, p. 47. 2008 Barton, D, ‘Del Kathryn Barton on Philip Guston’, Art World, Issue 2, April/ The Flinders Collection, Melbourne 2012 Frost, A, ‘The A to Z of Contemporary Art’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2009 Thompson, N, ‘Negotiating art and its public: Optimism at the goma’, May, Inspiration, p. 178. The Acacia Collection, Melbourne 3–4 March, Spectrum, p. 6. Art Monthly Australia, Issue 219, pp. 30–31. 2008 Del Kathryn Barton, Sunday Arts Television program, produced by Andrew The International School of Tourism, New South Wales 2012 Friedmann, J, ‘Del Kathryn Barton Is An Artist’, Dumbo Feather, Issue 30, 2009 Kiely, A, ‘Thread alert’, Vogue Living Australia, March/April, pp. 65–66. Holland, abc, 30 March. The University of Sydney Union Collection, Sydney p. 104–129. 2009 Gawronski, A, ‘The Titillators’, Broadsheet, Vol. 38.1, March, pp. 34–37. 2008 Nelson, R, ‘Poetry in a crown of thorns’, The Age, 19 March, Visual Arts, The Students Association, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2012 Frost, A, ‘Time and Space, Space and Time’, Art Monthly Australia, Issue 247, 2009 McDonald, J, ‘When losers are winners’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Metro Reviews, p. 22. UBS, Sydney p. 26–27. Spectrum, 14–15 March, pp. 16–17. 2008 Backhouse, M, ‘Del Kathryn Barton: the whole of everything’, The Age, 2012 ‘Observation Point : Del Kathryn Barton’, Portrait, February/May, p. 3. 2009 McDonald, J, ‘The colour of democracy’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 March, Art Around the Galleries, A2, p. 10. Selected Bibliography Note: Changed dates for consistency 2012 Hooton, A, ‘The Mother Load’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 January, 7–8 March, Spectrum, pp. 18–19. 2008 Strickland, K, ‘Barton goes public’, The Australian Financial Review, Good Weekend, p. 13. 2009 Press, C, ‘Figuratively speaking’, Vogue Australia, Scene, Must See, March, 13 March, Saleroom, p. 51. 2015 ‘Archibald Legends’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, September, pp. 90–91. 2011 Hawley, J, ‘The Art Of Christmas’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December, pp. 112–113. 2008 McDonald, J, ‘Trustees satisfy with choice more cozy than crazy’, 2015 ‘Places of the Heart’, qantas Magazine, July, QSpirit, p. 45. Good Weekend, p. 13. 2009 Frost, A, ‘Lets wake up and get adventurous with the Archibald’, The Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald, 8–9 March, p. 3. 2015 Taylor, A, ‘Archibald about-face: portrait of the artist as subject,’ 2011 Freak, E, ‘New To The Collection’, Articulate, Summer 2011–12, agsa, p. 32. Morning Herald, 2 Februrary. 2008 Schwartzkoff, L, ‘A mother load of happiness’, The Sydney Morning Herald, News: The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July, pp. 2–3. 2011 ‘Flash: Parlour Games’, Harpers Bazaar, September, p. 376. 2009 NEW: Selected recent acquisitions 2007–2008, uq Art Museum, 8–9 March, p. 3. 2015 Blake, E, ‘Redback’ spider’s ‘brutle, poetic’ sex life revealed’, 2011 McKay, J, ‘The X Factor’, Instyle, September, p. 250. Queensland, p. 91. 2008 Smee, S, ‘Mother’s art of the heart wins Archibald’, The Australian, 8 March.

130 131 List of Works Acknowledgments

Sydney Magazine, pp. 54–61. 2008 Fortescue, E, ‘Kinship wins Archibald, What love looks like’, The Daily 2006 Frost, A, ‘50 Most Collectable Artists 2006’, Australian Art Collector, Telegraph, 8 March, p. 8. p. 20 the highway is a disco, 2015 I would like to thank, first and always Matthias Arndt for the January – March, p. 90. 2008 Strickland, K, ‘Archibald winner will keep work in the family’, The Weekend 2005 Backhouse, M, ‘Surreal Twists’, The Age, 17 September, Around the acrylic on French linen open-hearted respect and generosity he brings to my practice. Australian Financial Review, 8–9 March, p. 5. Galleries, p. 7. 2008 Conway, D, ‘You’ll appreciate Archibald when you’re older, darlings’, The 240 × 180 cm Tiffany and Matthias, it continues to be a great pleasure working 2005 Barker, C, ‘One to Watch’, Vogue Australia, February, Vogue Arts, p. 86. Age, 8 March, News, p. 8. with you both. 2005 Bearman, N, ‘Inner Child’, Vive Magazine, February – March, pp. 50–53. 2008 Moore, R, ‘Running with the wolves’, The Age, 7 March, Sightlines Critical p. 32 wild carrot dream, 2015 2005 Bounds, J, ‘Children of the Revolution’, Follow Magazine, October, pp. Guide, Arts & Culture, p. 17. acrylic on French linen Liz Ellis I could not do it without you! I truly love our creative 212–215. 2008 Smee, S, ‘Return to paint’, The Australian, 1 March. 2005 Grigg, M, ‘Marvelous and Miscellaneous’, The Sunday Age, 21 August, 160 × 140 cm adventures! Your commitment is next level, thank you always! 2008 Press, C, ‘Vogue loves: ‘Del Kathryn Barton’, Vogue Australia, April, Scene: Expose, p. 20. What’s on where, p. 112. PJ, Emme and Bianca your assistance in the studio; my gratitude! 2005 Reid, M, ‘The Art Oracle’, The Age Melbourne Magazine, 1 October, p. 3. p. 42 the cosmos is disco lust, 2015 2008 Backhouse, M, ‘Del Kathryn Barton’, Box Office, The Age Melbourne Love your faces! 2005 King, N, ‘compulsive beauty: del kathryn barton’s composite portraits’, Magazine, Issue 41, March, p. 116. acrylic on French linen, diptych catalogue essay, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne. 2008 ‘Selected Exhibitions; Ten shows worth seeing during February and March’, 180 × 240 cm each Cherry Bomb and Magic Dog, you keep us all sane in the studio and 2004 Angeloro, D, ‘All Things Nice’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19–25 November, Art World, Issue 1, February/March, p. 32. Metro, p. 26. the love and giggles flowing! Thanking also, in no particular order, 2008 ‘Oyster Vision talks to Elke Kramer, Kate Hurst, Matt Weston & Del Kathryn p. 54 within my pleats, 2015 2004 Armstrong, C, ‘ANZ Emerging Artists Program’, Art and Australia, Vol. 42, Barton’, FX framing, Crawford Casting, METHOD STUDIOS, High Res No. 1, Spring, p. 160. acrylic on French linen 2008 Smee, S, ‘Group hug pushes Archibald buttons’, The Australian, 29 February, Digital, Jenni Carter, Charles Dennington, Parkers Fine Arts, RWB, 2004 Hill, P, ‘Favorite Things’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 4–5 December, The Nation, p. 7. 160 × 140 cm Spectrum, p. 19. Nell, Aquarius Films, Brendan Fletcher and the team at ARDNT! 2008 Colless, E, ‘Eden and after’, catalogue essay, Karen Woodbury Gallery, 2004 Hill, P, ‘The Glittering Prize’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13–14 November, Melbourne. p. 62 openly song, 2014 Spectrum, p. 18. 2008 Gardner, A, ‘del kathryn barton, a paradox of ecstasies’, Art & Australia, Vol. acrylic on linen Chris, Kell and Arella, my heart forever! 2004 McKenzie, R, ‘This is Australia’, Sesame Magazine, No. 2, Spring/Summer 45, No. 3, Autumn, Art Feature, pp. 424–433. 2003 Barker, C, ‘Basic Instinct: Meet Del Kathryn Barton’s Menagerie’, Oyster 244 × 183 cm 2007 Ward, E, ‘Del Kathryn Barton’, Sesame, Issue 5, X del Magazine, No. 43, December – January. 2007 Smee, S, ‘Against the grain’, The Weekend Australian, 15–16 December, 2003 Hill, P, ‘Golden Life’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16–17 August, Review of p. 70 we will ride, 2014 Review, pp. 4–5. Octopus 4, pp. 12–13. 2007 Ingram, T, ‘Eye on estimates helps to fill in the blanks’, The Australian acrylic on linen 2003 King, N, ‘Octopus 4: More Real than Life’, Australian Centre for Financial Review, 2 August, Saleroom, p. 50. 260 × 199 cm Contemporary Art, online review . 2007 Schwartzkoff, L, ‘Walking on air: water-bound artist wins Dobell Prize’, The 2003 Strahan, L, ‘True and New’, The Age, 24 July, p. 8. Age, 24 August, News, p. 6. p. 82 to feel, 2015 2003 James, B, Leach, F, ‘The Deep End’, feature on Octopus 4, interview with 2007 2007 Archibald Prize, exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Alexie Glass, ABC Radio National, 13 August. bronze, baby arm handball Sydney, p. 2. 2002 Foster, E, ‘Del Kathryn Barton: Drawings and Objects’, A Public of 2007 ‘41. Del Kathryn Barton’, Sunday Herald Sun, 22 July, Hot 100, Sunday 35 cm diameter, plinth 84 × 84 × 84 cm Individuals, Vol. 1, No. 3, November – December. Magazine, p. 32. 2002 Rees, S, Half a World Away: Drawings from Glasgow, Sao Paulo and Sydney, 2007 Smee, S, ‘Famous Faces’, The Weekend Australian, 24–25 February, Enquirer, p. 88 with flowers, 2015 exhibition catalogue, 16 February – 22 March, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts p. 21. bronze, spider Centre, Buffalo, New York 2007 McDonald, J, ‘In a Good Year for Bad Painting’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2001 Hill, P, Anxiety: The Drawn Figure, exhibition catalogue, 23 August – 80 × 48 × 75 cm, plinth 84 × 84 × 84 cm 3–4 March, Judges Play it Safe, Weekend Edition, p. 3. 22 September, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney 2007 McDonald, J, ‘A Brush with Mediocrity’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10–11 2001 James, B, ‘As far as nudes go Eve beats Rita by a smile’, The Sydney Morning p. 96 inside another land 1–15, 2015 March, Spectrum, pp. 16–17. Herald, 26 September. 2007 Illustration, Art Almanac, April, Archibald Prize 2007: Art Gallery of New archival print on cotton rag with acrylic paint 2001 Loxley, A, ‘The drama of drawing from three different angles’, The Sydney South Wales, back cover advertisement. 58.5 × 83 cm each, with border 69 × 83 cm Morning Herald, 29 August. 2007 Higgins, J, ‘Innovators 2 Exhibition: Strange Beauty’, Australian Art 2001 Sexton, J, ‘She who must be displayed’, The Weekend Australian, 30 June. Collector, Previews, p. 308. p. 118 the nightingale and the rose, 2014 2001 Skilbeck, R, ‘Heavy Petting’, Black+White Magazine, February. 2007 Davies, K, ‘Young at Art’, The Australian, March, Wish Magazine, pp. 44–50. 2000 Figuet, M, ‘Six Sexy in the City’, Thomas Erber & Jalouse Magazine, France, film 2007 Fortescue, E, ‘A talent in real demand’, The Daily Telegraph, 13 February, Issue 32, August. Features, p. 42. 15 minutes 2007 Frost, A, ‘Cover Artist: 50 most Collectable Artists 2007’, Australian Art Collector, January – March, pp. 98–103. 2007 Backhouse, M, ‘In galleries, it’s show time’, The Age, 20 January, A2, pp. 15–16. 2006 Stein, J, ‘anz Emerging Artists Program: Rob McHaffie’, Art and Australia, Vol. 44, No. 2, Summer, Art Program, p. 320. 2006 Strickland, K, ‘Emerging Australian Artists: ones to watch’, Australian Financial Review, 22 December, p. 40. 2006 Colless, E, ‘del kathryn barton’s heavy petting’, Australian Art Collector, October – November, pp. 126–136. 2006 Backhouse, M, ‘Cultivating the art of collecting’, The Age, 31 July, Metro, p. 14. 2006 Nelson, R, ‘Unexpected encounters’, The Age, 2 August, Metro, p. 19. 2006 Backhouse, M, ‘Melbourne Art Fair 2006’, The Age Melbourne Magazine, August, p. 85. 2006 Munro, K, ‘Open Gallery’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14–15 October, p. 16. 2006 Pryor, L, ‘Moving on up’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Issue 35, March,

132 133 the highway is a disco is published on the occasion of the exhibition of Del Kathryn Barton at ARNDT in Singapore

October 31 – December 6, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

© 2015, the artist, the authors, the photographers and Arndt Art Agency Pty Ltd, Singapore.

ISBN 978-981-09-7125-0

Published by A3 – Arndt Art Agency Pte Ltd, Singapore

Photography All photographs of Del’s works including bronze works by Jenni Carter. All in studio shots including the girls (the dogs) by Kell Plater. Photo of Del in Pink Jacket Photo: Charles Dennington. Museum Magazine, September 2015.

Cover the highway is a disco (detail)

End Papers front: the highway is a disco (detail) back: studio shots 2015

Design Hayman Design Printer Frist Printers, Singapore Edition 700