Secession 1979



Alternate title: Coils
Synthetic polymer paint and pen on canvas, 203.6 x 78.6
signed, dated and titled [on reverse: ‘Title: Secession / H Arkley 79’]
Wollongong City Art Gallery, NSW, gift of Chandler Coventry 1981 [WCG 1981.185]

First shown at Tolarno in 1979 as Coils, then in 1980 and thereafter as Secession (a title apparently alluding to the early 20th-century Viennese decorative movement).

Chandler Coventry evidently purchased this work directly from the 1980 exhibition at his Sydney gallery, subsequently donating it to Wollongong.

Various shades of grey are used for the repeated elements, suggesting shifting planes in depth (contrasting with the generally flat impression of the decorative patterning).

Provenance

  • Coll. Chandler Coventry, c.1980-81

Exhibited

  • HA Tolarno 5/79, cat.8 (as Coils)
  • HA Coventry 3/80, cat.15
  • HA retrospective 2006-7 (shown in Melbourne & Brisbane; details as above)

Literature

  • Spray 28 (ill.)