1998 Works on paper (minor)

A set of dot-matrix drawings made on a home computer occupied Arkley for some time during 1998. As they stand, the works (preserved in a folder in Arkley’s archive) seem rather ephemeral, but they possibly signal a new direction his art would have taken in the future. They obviously relate to his interest in heads, faces and masks; see now Carnival 172, including a reproduction of one of the more developed examples: Fig.6.18.

Other works on paper dating from 1998 include a black sprayed cut-out vase of flowers in Arkley’s studio collection, signed and dated on the reverse ‘Howard Arkley 98’, and inscribed ‘Study for Riteroom 98’: see now photo of Arkley with Riteroom (1998) in process, reproduced in the Melbourne Age, 15 June 1999 (Sutton 1999), including this added drawing; as it turned out, the motif did not appear in the final version of the painting. A related working drawing of a vase and flowers, in black and purple (also in Arkley’s archive), may also date from 1998.

See also Sketchbooks nos.31 (1996-98), including several sketches dated 1998; and 32 (1995 and 1998), containing several pages dated 1998, notably one with a collaborative drawing by Arkley and Alison Burton (reproduced in Carnival Fig.5.9).

(photo: Arkley drawing at home, Oakleigh, 1998 [archive photo by Alison Burton])