"People ask me 'why paint birds?' and I look at them
dumbfounded! Iive got no answer, except that they are the
most beautiful creatures" - Brett Whiteley.
Animals and Birds features Brett Whiteleyís paintings,
drawings and sculptures of nesting and swooping birds; shy
mammals and leaping frogs.
Metaphorically an escape into what Whiteley saw as the
freedom of the natural world, these works provoked in him
both curiosity and a tremendous sense of release. As a
child, Whiteley always loved visiting Taronga Park Zoo in
Sydney and from an early age he developed a profound
fascination with creatures from the natural world. His
sister Fran recalls that he was fiercely possessive of his
egg collection,"He was mad about eggs, loved their shape
and symbolism".
Some years later in London, during his formative years as a
young expatriate artist, Whiteleyís artistic brilliance grew
and he was drawn again to celebrate the beautiful forms of
animals and birds in the Regent Street Zoo. The sublime
qualities he found in nature seemed to offset some of the
darker sides to his irreverence or more the challenging
aspects of his psyche.
In the late 60s after he left New York, he lived in Fiji for
a time. He experienced with great relief, this Gauguin
inspired Pacific island retreat as an escape from the
craziness of New York. He declared the Fruit Dove of Fiji to
be the most beautiful bird he'd seen. Back in Sydney in the
70s, developing his career as one of Australiaís most
brilliant draftsmen, Brett Whiteley spent many hours
visiting Taronga Zoo watching and drawing the birds and
animals. The fruit of his labours of love in the form of
sumptuously depicted birds and mischievously drawn animals
are gathered together in this Studio exhibition that
provides a perfect context in the workplace and home of the
artist.
Exhibition curator, Sheona White describes the assembled
works as "some of the most touchingly beautiful and yet
playful of Whiteleyís prodigious career".
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