‘Howard Arkley: New Works’, Bellas, Brisbane, March-April 1996

‘Howard Arkley: New Works’, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane, 19 March – 9 April 1996

This show comprised 14 works on paper and a single work on canvas (cat.no.4). The check-list is extant, but there are no installation photos, and Arkley’s files contain only a partial set of photographs, several without identification. Hence, some works remain unidentified, and other identifications are provisional.[1]

All works except cat.no.4 were listed as on paper, 76 x 55 in size, priced at $2,000:

1.      Self Portrait (1996) [W/P]: archive photo; auctioned by Christie’s in Sydney in August 1998; NB this work, based on one of Arkley’s favourite Byzantine icon sources, is closely similar to both Untitled [‘Head’] (1996?) [W/P] (auctioned by Deutscher-Menzies in Melbourne, also in August 1998), and The Icon Head 1997 [W/P].

2.      Ketoacidosis (1996) [W/P]: unidentified

3.      Icon Head (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

4.      Freeway (SPP on canvas, 200 x 150; priced at $10,000): provisionally identified as Freeway (Exit) 1995

5.      Freeway Overpass = Freeway (over pass) (1996) [W/P]: archive photo

6.      Colourfield House (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

7.      Family Home (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

8.      Fenced in Home (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

9.      Bungalow Home (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

10.   Still Life Petunias (1996) [W/P]: unidentified

11.   Household Interior (1996) [W/P]: unidentified

12.   Tulips in a White Vase (1996) [W/P]: presumably = the work on paper auctioned by Deutscher-Menzies, Sydney, 7 Dec. 2005, lot 2 (as ‘Tulips in a White Bowl 1997’, noting Bellas provenance)

13.   Interior [Bellas] (1996) [W/P]: archive photo

14.   Pittoresque (?) (1996) [W/P]: archive photo (provisional ID)

15.   Highrise on Highrise (1996) [W/P] – no photo, but presumably the work auctioned by Christie’s, Sydney, 23-24 Aug.2004, lot 74 (noted as exhibited in Bellas works on paper show)

[1] Thanks to Hamish Sawyer of Milani Gallery, Brisbane, for forwarding information relevant to this and other Bellas shows involving Arkley (Nov.-Dec.2008)