AFRGA1 S001

The Australian Financial Review www.afr.com | 21-22 January 2017 $4 INC GST

AFRWEEKENDWeekend Newspaper of the Year

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMPA NEW WORLD BEGINSCity deaths: Melbourne’s tragic day

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

SPECIAL● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

READER● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

OFFER● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

As Australia Dayapproaches, AFR Weekendin association with TheStore is celebrating a risingAustralian artist, JamesDrinkwater. The Newcastle-based painter is making asplash in the art world,and we are very proud tooffer readers three limitededition prints.

Inside today’s wrap■ Window to a happy placeMeet the artist following in thefootsteps of Australia’s landscapegiants. By John McDonald.

■ Behind the artThe stories behind the paintings.By James Drinkwater.

■ How to ownFull details on how to purchase ourthree limited edition prints.

ARTIST PHOTO: PETER BRAIG

The Last LightTo own a signed limitededition giclee print of thiswork, or a choice of twoothers from this collection,go to thestore.com.au/drinkwater

AFRGA1 S002

SIGNED, LIMITED-EDITION GICLEE PRINTS

Available only from thestore.com.au/drinkwater

James DrinkwaterCELEBRATE AUSTRALIAN ART WITH A SPECIAL

COLLECTION OF WORKS BY JAMES DRINKWATER

Special reader offerWINDOW TO A HAPPY PLACEArt Emerging Australian painter James Drinkwater loves to fill his work with vitality and energy, writes John McDonald.

What I love about theAustralian landscapeis that it’s disorderly,it’s prickly and tough.James Drinkwater

James Drinkwater in his studio in Newcastle. His work traverses painting, sculpture, assemblage and collage. PHOTOS: PETER BRAIG

If an advertising agency set out todesign a new generation Austra-lian painter who combined all themost attractive aspects of his pre-decessors, the result would beJames Drinkwater. Still in hisearly 30s, Drinkwater hasimpressed everyone with his

energy, ambition and work ethic. In conver-sation he is polite, sensitive and full of enthu-siasm. His contemporaneity is rounded offwith a few discreet tats and a beard slightlytoo unkempt to qualify him as a grade-Ahipster.

A Newcastle boy, like John Olsen and Wil-liam Dobell, Drinkwater has been drawingand painting for as long as he can remem-ber. He claims to have begun at the age offive, when he became fascinated by the

small landscapes his auntie would paint inthe kitchen. Tearing around the house witha gang of cousins, young James was stoppedin his tracks by a first whiff of paint.

At the age of 10 Drinkwater borrowed adocumentary on Fred Williams from the lib-rary, and watched it over and over, until hismother wondered if there was somethingwrong with him.

Between the ages of 10 and 18 he wouldattend Ron Hartree’s art school in New-castle, going to life drawing classes everyTuesday and Thursday nights. By the timeDrinkwater was ready to move to Sydney toenroll at the National Art School, he had

already spent almost half his life in drawingclasses. ‘‘Drawing is a lesson in learning howto see,’’ he says. ‘‘It underpins everything Ido.’’

After graduating from the NAS, Drink-water moved to Melbourne, where he methis wife-to-be, Lottie Consalvo, a painter andperformance artist. Feeling the need tobroaden their horizons, the two young art-ists left for Berlin, where they spent threeyears learning their trade and soaking up theatmosphere. In a small flat in Neukolln,Drinkwater painted in the bedroom whileConsalvo painted in the lounge room, some-times seven days a week.

A three-month residency in Leipzigprovided the finishing touches, allowingfirst-hand experience of one of Europe’smost dynamic contemporary art scenes. The

star of the Leipzig school is Neo Rauch,whose studio was directly above that ofDrinkwater and Consalvo. It was hardly alesson in the Bohemian lifestyle, as theywatched him arrive for work in a yellowFerrari.

From Germany, Drinkwater andConsalvo visited Kenya before returning toAustralia, more specifically to Newcastle,where they could live more cheaply than inSydney or Melbourne. In 2014, soon aftertheir first child, Vincenzo, was born, Drink-water won the Brett Whiteley Travelling ArtScholarship, which took the family back toEurope, this time for three months at theCite des Arts in Paris, and three months trav-elling, from Ireland to the Balkans.

In Paris they found themselves close to theLouvre, the Musee d’Orsay and Monet’sgreat water lilies in the Orangerie.

Having secured a show with Londondealer Peta O’Brien, Drinkwater invested ingood-quality materials and plunged into hiswork. It was the opposite approach to that ofmost Australian artists, who tend to stay fora time in the Cite des Arts, making smallsketches and taking photos, hardly daring toproduce work of any size that would need tobe shipped home.

With a haven back in Newcastle, Drink-water began to reacquaint himself with theAustralian landscape, travelling to the out-back and to Tasmania in search of subjectmatter.

In this he was following in the footsteps ofmany earlier Australian painters (again,think of Dobell and Olsen, or even TomRoberts), who came to maturity duringyears spent in Europe but found a new senseof exhilaration when they returned home.

‘‘I think it was the space that I noticedmost when we got back from overseas,’’Drinkwater recalls. ‘‘While it may have feltromantic to be carting coal on a trolley inBerlin to burn in a stove, it was a thrill tocome back and find all that space aroundand between objects. And the sound of thebirds! There’s a clarity to life in this countrythat I really appreciate.’’

Drinkwater has obvious affinities witholder artists such as Elisabeth Cummingsand Ross Laurie, both landscape painterswith a strong leaning towards abstraction.The idea is not to depict a scene with photo-graphic precision but to re-invent it based onone’s own observations and memories. Nomatter how many studies are painted infront of the motif, the bulk of the work willbe done in the studio, as Drinkwater strivesto recapture his impressions of a particularsite.

Painter Fred Williams pointed out that inthe Australian landscape there’s no obviousfocal point, which means an artist had tobuild such features into a painting. Drink-water is quick to agree. ‘‘What I love aboutthe Australian landscape is that it’s dis-orderly, it’s prickly and tough. In my paint-ings I want to capture that landscape frommultiple perspectives. I want a sense of vital-ity and energy – that strong gesture.’’

Although his paintings may seemdauntingly abstract at first glance, Drink-water recognises that in today’s art world hecould be viewed as old-fashioned. By hisown admission, as a gestural painter he is ‘‘abit of a dinosaur’’, but he loves paint toomuch to worry about whether he is in or outof fashion. What’s important is the spirit ofthe picture rather than the medium.

‘‘A lot of artists are responding to theseterrible times with works full of terror andsadness,’’ he says. ‘‘I’m doing the opposite –offering some respite.’’ W

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

John McDonald is senior art critic for theSydney Morning Herald. He also writes onfilm for AFR Weekend.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

ABOUT THE ARTWORKS● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

■ THE LAST LIGHT (2016) ■ THE HOT AND HEADY NIGHT(HORSES) (2015)

■ THE FINKE RIVER AND THE ROYAL MEETING (2015)

During a three-day winter visit to the Tasmanian highlandsDrinkwater stayed in a pioneer’s hut clad with bark torn from localgums. A ream of French paper kicked out across the forest floor,creating a strange map from the combination of ink, charcoal andearth. This and other drawings done during the visit became thefoundation for a larger suite of works, including Last Light, whichwill be shown in Singapore in February. ‘‘It’s always about place,although I like to blur that line between abstraction and figuration,’’says the artist.

One evening during Drinkwater’s time in central Australia, a pack ofwild horses approached his bush camp about 400 kilometres westof Alice Springs. The spectacular desert sunset promised a storm,and the humidity and looming dark clouds kept the artists awake. At3am they broke camp, escaping to the relative safety of the bushhighway before the rain set in. ‘‘This painting is about our escape,reminding me that the country will always have power over us nomatter how much we advance,’’ Drinkwater says.

The Finke River and the Royal Meeting wasinspired by Drinkwater’s travels to centralAustralia, where he visited locations such asGlen Helen Gorge and Ormiston Creek. Onthe trip he read a biography of pioneeringIndigenous artist Albert Namatjira and feltinspired by the story of this ‘‘wandererbetween two worlds’’. Buried in the heavilyabstracted forms of this painting isNamatjira’s meeting with the young QueenElizabeth, which took place at GovernmentHouse in Canberra in 1954.

To own a signed limitededition giclee print of thiswork, or a choice of two othersfrom this collection, go tothestore.com.au/drinkwater

JAMES DRINKWATER: THE ARTIST AT A GLANCE

There’s aclarity to lifein thiscountry thatI reallyappreciate.JamesDrinkwater

■ Australianpainter■ Born1983■ LivesandworksinNewcastle,NSW■ InspirationincludesPabloPicasso,HenriMatisse,GeorgesBraque,PhilipGuston,GeorgBaselitz,BrettWhiteleyandJohnOlsen■ Wonthe2014BrettWhiteleyTravellingArtScholarship■ IncludedinArtCollectormagazine’s‘‘FiftyThings

CollectorsNeedtoKnow2017’’■ ShowingattheAustralianHighCommissioninSingaporeinFebruary■ RepresentedbyNanda/HobbsContemporary,SydneyandNKNGallery,Melbourne■ FeaturesinthecollectionsofMacquarieBank,Artbank,Allens,WarnerMusicAustraliaandtheNewcastleArtGallery,amongothers

Special wrap

■ About the artworks | S3

AFR

S2 S321-22 January 2017The Australian Financial Review

www.afr.com

SIGNED, LIMITED-EDITION GICLEE PRINTS

Available only from thestore.com.au/drinkwater

James DrinkwaterCELEBRATE AUSTRALIAN ART WITH A SPECIAL

COLLECTION OF WORKS BY JAMES DRINKWATER

WINDOW TO A HAPPY PLACEArt Emerging Australian painter James Drinkwater loves to fill his work with vitality and energy, writes John McDonald.

James Drinkwater in his studio in Newcastle. His work traverses painting, sculpture, assemblage and collage. PHOTOS: PETER BRAIG

If an advertising agency set out todesign a new generation Austra-lian painter who combined all themost attractive aspects of his pre-decessors, the result would beJames Drinkwater. Still in hisearly 30s, Drinkwater hasimpressed everyone with his

energy, ambition and work ethic. In conver-sation he is polite, sensitive and full of enthu-siasm. His contemporaneity is rounded offwith a few discreet tats and a beard slightlytoo unkempt to qualify him as a grade-Ahipster.

A Newcastle boy, like John Olsen and Wil-liam Dobell, Drinkwater has been drawingand painting for as long as he can remem-ber. He claims to have begun at the age offive, when he became fascinated by the

small landscapes his auntie would paint inthe kitchen. Tearing around the house witha gang of cousins, young James was stoppedin his tracks by a first whiff of paint.

At the age of 10 Drinkwater borrowed adocumentary on Fred Williams from the lib-rary, and watched it over and over, until hismother wondered if there was somethingwrong with him.

Between the ages of 10 and 18 he wouldattend Ron Hartree’s art school in New-castle, going to life drawing classes everyTuesday and Thursday nights. By the timeDrinkwater was ready to move to Sydney toenroll at the National Art School, he had

already spent almost half his life in drawingclasses. ‘‘Drawing is a lesson in learning howto see,’’ he says. ‘‘It underpins everything Ido.’’

After graduating from the NAS, Drink-water moved to Melbourne, where he methis wife-to-be, Lottie Consalvo, a painter andperformance artist. Feeling the need tobroaden their horizons, the two young art-ists left for Berlin, where they spent threeyears learning their trade and soaking up theatmosphere. In a small flat in Neukolln,Drinkwater painted in the bedroom whileConsalvo painted in the lounge room, some-times seven days a week.

A three-month residency in Leipzigprovided the finishing touches, allowingfirst-hand experience of one of Europe’smost dynamic contemporary art scenes. The

Special wrap

■ About the artworks | S3

A

S2 21-22 JaThe Australian

www.