Douglas Chambers

Summertime Visitors 2009 Acrylic + Oil on Linen 122 x 91.5 cm

GODDESSES and OTHER THEMES

22 August - 19 September 2010

GALERIE DÜSSELDORF

Galerie Düsseldorf 9 Glyde Street Mosman Park WA 6012 tel/ GALERIE DÜSSELDORF fax 08 93840890 Gallery hours : Wednesday - Friday 11 - 5 Sunday 2 - 5 and by appointment Closed public holidays email : [email protected] Website : www.galeriedusseldorf.com.au Directors : Magda + Douglas Sheerer

BLODEUWEDD

pronounced

blode-ae-wehd

Blodeuwedd is a Welsh Dark/Death Goddess. She was made out of 9 flowers by two male magicians, Gwydion and Math, to be the bride of Llew.

Blodeuwedd wanted to marry another man named Goronwyn. She had him spear Llew. Gywdion saved him by turning him into an eagle and then turned Blodeuwedd into an owl as punishment.

Once a love Goddess, Blodeuwedd is now a Goddess of Death and Wisdom. She is also an older aspect of another Goddess, The White lady, accordingto Maria Gimbutus.

Robert Graves speaks of the White Goddess in his poem. Prayers to Blodeuwedd would center around the death of someone, a change in your life, and the naming and healing of your shadow side. As any Dark Goddess, Blodeuwedd transforms you.

After hunting all day, the party comes to find themselves at the gates of the castle and Blodeuwedd invites them in. Once Gronw and Blodeuwedd lay their eyes on each other, they fall deeply in love. At the time in which Gronw must depart, they begin to talk of how they can be together forever and Gronw advises Blodeuwedd to determine the means in which her husband could be put to death.

After Llew’s return, Blodeuwedd confides her fears of his untimely death to Llew. Llew consoles her by telling her that he can not be easily slain, except by a wound. And the spear wherewith he is struck must be a year in the forming. And he cannot be slain within a house or without, nor can he be slain neither on horseback nor on foot. He can only be slain by making a bath for him by the side of a river, and by putting a roof over the cauldron, and thatching it well and tightly, and bringing a buck, and putting it beside the cauldron. Then if he places one foot on the buck’s back, and the other on the edge of the cauldron, whosoever strikes him will cause his death.

Soon after this discourse, Blodeuwedd sends to Gronw Pebyr telling him to begin making the spear. After a year in Photo : Douglas Chambers by Hans Versluis the making, the plan was ready to be launched. Blodeuwedd went to her husband and asked him again about the validity of the method of which he could be killed. To calm her fears, he agreed to show her. Therefore, Blodeuwedd After gaining a National Diploma in Design, Douglas Chambers served his had the scenario he described created and at the moment he had his foot on the edge of the cauldron and his other obligatory two years national service before attending The Royal College of Art foot on the back of the buck, Gronw emerged from the shadows and strikes him with the spear. Immediately, Llew in London from 1959-61, alongside Ron Kitaj, David Hockney, Peter Phillips and turns into an eagle and flies away. Allen Jones.

When the news of Llew’s demise reached his cousins, they were greatly saddened and they sought out the eagle, In 1963 he took up a teaching post in Jamaica where he lived for seven which they changed back into a man. After his return to human form, Llew was in a sickly state and took over a year years before arriving in in 1970 to teach in Art and Design at The Western to heal and become whole again. During this time, Blodeuwedd and Gronw were living together in the castle in Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University). which Llew and she had lived. A survey exhibition of his work was held at The Art Gallery of Western Australia Once healed, Llew is determined to get his possessions back and he and his cousins storm the castle. Blodeuwedd in 1991 and in 2004 he was a visiting Scholar at The University of Tasmania, and her maids run into the forest and looking back to see their pursuers, fall into a lake. They were all drowned except Blodeuwedd herself to whom Gwydion said “I will not slay thee, but I will do unto thee worse than that. For I Launceston. will turn thee into a bird; and because of the shame thou hast done unto Llew Llaw Gyffes, you shall never show thy face in the light of day. And thou shall not lose thy name, but shall be always called Blodeuwedd.” And even now the For over two decades Douglas Chambers has been living and working in South owl is called Blodeuwedd. West of Western Australia. Initially in Albany and laterly in Balingup, a few hours drive south of Perth. For the complete myth, see “The Shrine of Blodeuwedd, a web site created by Ariannon, a follower of the Avalon Tradition. URL: http://www.geocities.com/ariannon/blod.html This exhibition marks his 10th solo exhibition at Galerie Düsseldorf. Douglas Chambers : GODDESESS and OTHER THEMES Galerie Düsseldorf 22 Aug - 19 Sept 2010 Selected Group Exhibitions continued :

1986 Sunshine Festival Art Prize, Theatre Gallery, Geraldton 1987 Albany Invitation Exhibition, Sir Claude Hotchin Art Gallery, Albany Catalogue of works : 1988 The Centre, Gold Coast, Brisbane 1988 Bi-Centenial Royal Agricultural Art Prize, Perth 1988 First Australian Contemporary Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne 1 Spring to Autumn 2010 10 Summer Glade 2009 (Represented by Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth) Acrylic on Linen Triptych Acrylic on Linen 1990 Second Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne 3 panels each 122 x 91.5 cm 122 x 91.5 cm (Represented by Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth) Overall 122 x 276 cm $ 5,500 1995 A Rose is a Rose, Galerie Düsseldorf $ 12,000 1997 Galerie Düsseldorf : 21 Years On, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1997 Swingtime, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia 2 Aphrodite 2010 11 Blodeuwedd (Made of Blossom) 2010 2002 Joondalup Invitation Art Award Acrylic on Linen Acrylic on Linen 2002 Love Your Work, Fremantle Arts Centre 122 x 91.5 cm 122 x 91.5 cm 2002 Boundless, Contemporary, Art from Country, WA, Art Gallery of Western Australia $ 5,500 $ 5,500 2003 BankWest Contemporary Art Prize 2006 Galerie Düsseldorf : 30 Years On, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 3 Eve 2010 12 Spring 2010 2008 CLOSET CIRCUS Works from the Horn Collection, Bunbury regional Art Gallery, Bunbury Acrylic + Pastel on Linen Acrylic on Linen 2009 Waves - The Edith Cowan University Art Collection. ECU November 2009 122 x 91.5 cm 122 x 91 cm 2009 Flying Over, Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, WA $ 5,500 $ 5,500 2009 South West Survey, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, WA

4 Time 2010 13 Beyonderup 2009 Awards Acrylic on Linen Oil on Canvas 1960 Rome and Abbey Scholarship 122 x 91.5 cm 75.5 x 101.5 cm 1968 Jamaica Government Painting Award $ 5,500 $ 4,800 1976 Visual Arts Board, Australia Council Grant 1985 Albany Invitation Exhibition Painting Award 5 Summertime Visitors 2009 14 Blossom Tree 2008 1985 The Western Australia Week Invitation Painting Award Acrylic + Oil on Linen Oil on Canvas 1985 The Holmes à Court Invitation Prize 122 x 91.5 cm 91.5 x 122 cm 1986 Albany Art Competion ‘Caltex Art Award’, Open Prize $ 5,500 $ 5,500 1986 Geraldton Sunshine Festival Art Prize 1988 Bi-Centenial Royal Agricultural Art Prize 6 Annuciation 2010 15 Spring House 2009 1989 The Maltilda Bay Restaurant Art Prize Acrylic on Linen Acrylic on Cotton Duck 1989 Creative Development Fellowship, Department for the Arts 122 x 91.5 cm 120 x 120 cm 1990 Commissioned to Design Poster for Festival of Perth 1991 $ 5,500 $ 5,500

7 Time II 2010 16 Blossom House 2008 Residencies Acrylic, Oil + Charcoal on Linen Oil on Canvas 2005 University of Tasmania, Launceston Campus 122 x 91.5 cm 46 x 35.7 cm $ 5,500 $ 1,200 Commissions 1997 Relief Mural for the Perth Family Court 8 Winter 2010 17 Night House 2008 Acrylic on Linen Oil on Canvas 122 x 91.5 cm 46 x 35.7 cm Collections $ 5,500 $ 1,200 University of West Indies, Shell Oil Co., West Indies, Bank of Canada, West Indies University of Western Australia, The Art Gallery of Western Australia 9 Gaia (Mother Earth) 2010 18 Seascape Augusta 2008 Curtin University of Technology, Western Australian Arts Council, National Gallery of Victoria Acrylic on Linen Oil on Board Visual Arts Board, Artbank, N.T. Art Gallery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hostpital 122 x 91.5 cm 15 x 19 cm Darwin Institute of Technology, State Library of Western Australia, Fremantle Art Gallery $ 5,500 $ 600 Albany Art Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, The Janet Holmes à Court Collection Foothills School Western Australia, Geraldton Theatre Art Gallery, Ian and Sue Bernadt Collection, BankWest, Edith Cowan University, Wesfarmers DOUGLAS CHAMBERS - Biography

1935 Born London, England 1970 Arrived in Australia to take up teaching at W.A.I.T (now Curtin University of Technology)

Studies 1952-56 National Diploma in Design (Painting), London, A.R.C.A. Painting 1959-61 Graduate Diploma, Royal College of Art, LondonTeaching 1961-62 Charterhouse School, England 1963 Jamaica School of Art 1970-80 Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology) 1982 Darwin Institute of Technology 1986 Established and taught at Curtin University of Technology, School of Art Annexe, Albany

Solo Exhibitions 1974 Old Fire Station Gallery, Perth 1978 Review Exhibition, Fremantle Art Gallery 1 1979 Undercroft Gallery, University of Western Australia (with Mac Betts) 1980 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1982 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1985 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1987 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1989 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1990 Chapman Gallery, Canberra 1991 Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth. Festival of Perth Exhibition 1991 Myer Atrium, Perth. Douglas Chambers - An Overview, Festival of Perth Exhibition in conjunction with Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1991 Douglas Chambers: A Survey, Art Gallery of Western Australia 1998 Recent Paintings, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 2000 New Paintings and Constructions, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 2004 Then and Now, Recent Paintings, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 2010 Goddesses and Other Themes, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth

Group Exhibitions 1954-56 New English Art Club, R.B.A. Gallery, London 1958 Royal Academy, London 2 3 4 1958-61 Young Contemporaries, R.B.A. Gallery, London 1966-69 Travelling Exhibition with Jamaica Artsists’ Association in Cuba, Canada and West Indies 1969 Jamaica Government Painting Award 1973 Four Painters Exhibition, Desborough Gallery, Perth 1980 Third Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1981 Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1982 Critics Choice, The Art Gallery of Western Australia 1983 George’s Invitation Exhibition, Melbourne 1983 The W.A.I.T. Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia 1983 Bougainvillea Art Award 1983 Northern Territory Award 1984 Pegasus Art Award, The Art Gallery of Western Australia 1985 Five Painters in Western Australia, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth (Festival of Perth Exhibition) 1985 Fremantle Drawing Prize, Fremantle Art Gallery 1985 Albany Invitation Exhibition, Sir Claude Hotchin Art Gallery, Albany 1985 The Western Australia Week Invitation Art Award, Fremantle Arts Centre 1985 Mandorla Art Prize, New Norcia Art Gallery, New Norcia 1985 9th Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth 1986 Albany Invitation Exhibition, Sir Claude Hotchin Art Gallery, Albany 5 6 7

8 9 10 15 16 17

11 12 18 Installation view

13 14 Installation view Installation view