Nubrick (1986)



Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 160 x 120

Private collection, Melbourne

First shown in HA Tolarno 9/86. According to Alison Burton, Arkley was unhappy with this work on technical grounds. Nevertheless, its unusually dark tonality lends it a particularly brooding, ‘unhomely’ quality; for remarks on this idea of the malign aspect of suburbia, of which this is a key example in Arkley’s oeuvre, see discussion in both Spray and Carnival.

A full-scale ‘cartoon’ for this painting survives: see Untitled [Nubrick study] (c.1986) [W/P].

Provenance

  • Recorded as with Bill Nuttall (Niagara Galleries) in Arkley’s files 1986 and Spray research card (c.1996)
  • Collection details noted in Heide files accessed 4/06

Exhibited

  • HA Tolarno 9/86, cat.1
  • ‘Downtown’, Heide, 3/95 (details as above)

Literature

  • McAuliffe 1996, col.pl.13
  • Spray 80 (ill.) and 83
  • Carnival 26 and Fig.1.14