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Indepth Arts News:
"AUSTRALIA COUNCIL JOINS ARTS COMMUNITY GRIEF FOR ARKLEY"
1999-07-30 until 1999-07-30
Australian Council
Sydney, ,
AU Australia
The Australia Council has joined the arts community around Australia in their grief over the loss of great
Australian artist Howard Arkley.
Mr Arkley, 48, whose work is currently representing Australia at the prestigious Venice Biennale, died soon after his return to
his hometown in Melbourne.
Australia Council Chair, Dr Margaret Seares, who was with Mr Arkley for his exhibition launch in Venice last month, said she
was deeply saddened by the loss of such an important artist and widely liked human being.
It was a privilege to get to know Howard in Venice for an occasion that represented a career peak for him. I was extremely
impressed with his hardworking professionalism in presenting his work and promoting Australia and with how easily he
communicated with a myriad of people.
Howard was a great ambassador for Australian art. His charm and excitement at the Biennale was infectious. He will be
dearly missed by the arts community.
Chair of the Council's Visual Arts/Craft Fund and Venice exhibition Commissioner, Ron Radford, said Howard Arkley was
an artist for his times whose airbrush portrayals of Australian suburbia are tinged with a pathos that reflects an element of the
Australian character.
Howard's work was accessible and enjoyable and has been described variously as quirky, moody, passionate and rigorous,
he said.
Both the artist and the man struck a special chord in the hearts of so many Australians in a way that few artists – maybe
Nolan, Boyd and Whiteley – did.
Howard Arkley has staged numerous solo exhibitions throughout Australia and, more recently overseas, since the 1970s. His
work is represented in public collections at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and State galleries in Adelaide,
Brisbane, Melbourne Perth and Sydney, as well as New York's Metropolitan Art Museum.
Mr Arkley has shown at Tolarno Galleries in Melbourne since his first exhibition in 1975. He has also just had a highly
successful exhibition in Los Angeles.
For further information please contact:
Lancia Jordana, Public Affairs Manager, Australia Council
Tel: (02) 9950 9013
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