1978 Works on paper (minor)



There are no sketchbooks apparently dating from 1978, but Visual Diaries D8 and D9, dated Jan. and May 1978 respectively, both contain a considerable number of compositional sketches for paintings of the period, including many door-format sketches. For a reproduction of a typical double page from D8, see under general remarks for 1978.

Arkley also produced various other minor works on paper around this time (as preserved and/or documented by photos in his archive). These include several experimental works comprising sprayed and/or cut-out newspaper pages dating from 1978. Most were evidently classified advertisement pages from the Melbourne Age, sprayed with abstract or floral patterns in black. The approach in each case was to treat the area of each advertisement as the field for a different pictorial idea, like a sort of abstract art mail order catalogue.

Other examples documented in Arkley’s image files used newspaper pages differently. The example reproduced here, via a slide dated Oct78 (the sole source), was apparently made from several cut-out layers of newspaper (recalling Untitled [altered Arp Book] (1977?) [W/P]), introducing a subtle low-relief element. The upper double sheet is dated 12 Aug.1978.