1995

Arkley’s status as a major mid-career Australian painter grew considerably during the year. At the same time – in fact, possibly as a direct consequence of his growing status and visibility (aka the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’) – his art began to attract harsher and more searching criticism than it had often received in the past. Two major exhibitions featured his work during the year.

In ‘Downtown’ (MOMA at Heide, 14 March -14 May), curator Juliana Engberg – who had written some of the most insightful earlier commentary on Arkley’s art (see bibliography: 1987, 1988 and 1991) – set his work into creative connection with that of two of his heroes, Robert Rooney and U.S West Coast legend Ed Ruscha, in a stimulating reading of urban and suburban iconography. Arkley also contributed a major new ten-canvas work to this show: Outside-Inside-Out (‘The Heide Installation’), a stylised suburban environment. In a strong critique of ‘Downtown’ in the Melbourne Age (1 April 1995), Robert Nelson charged Arkley with stereotyping suburbia, a view that infuriated Engberg (who wrote to Arkley expressing her disappointment with Nelson’s article).[1] Nelson later renewed his attack in a highly critical review of ‘Into and Out of Abstraction’, curated by John McPhee at the NGV (Dec.1995-Feb.1996), where Arkley’s work was again prominent (see installation photo above).[2]

Arkley’s solo ‘White + Black’ exhibition at Tolarno in September surveyed his monochrome work across two decades, contrasting new and recent works (including a replica of Primitive, the original thought at the time to have been lost) with earlier examples, including several large canvases not shown since the mid 1970s. Robyn McKenzie, reviewing the show in the Age (20 Sept.1995) expressed concern about Arkley’s recycling of earlier compositions in this show, neglecting the degree to which his work had always involved such strategies. The exhibition included a considerable number of new works on paper.

Arkley also continued to work with Peter Tyndall on the collaborative venture initiated the previous year, but the project was abandoned in September (see discussion under 1994).