TONY CLARK: UNSCULPTED
1 NOVEMBER 2024 – 1 JUNE 2025Unsculpted presents a multifaceted overview of one of Australia’s most respected artists. For over four decades, Tony Clark has explored the capacity of painting to test the boundaries between genres and creative disciplines.
Clark’s paintings reinterpret motifs from the histories of art, architecture and the decorative arts in ongoing bodies of work that repeat and reconfigure familiar themes, building an iterative visual language that is distinctively his own.
Departing from a conventional survey, the exhibition has been developed in collaboration with the artist and focuses on his sustained interest in the representation of sculpture and sculptural relief through painted form.
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The exhibition includes studies from the artist’s archives that reveal early explorations into the interplay between two- and three-dimensional form, alongside new commissions such as a series of sculptures produced in collaboration with fellow artist Joanne Ritson, which transport Clark’s interest in three-dimensional form into new territory.
Tony Clark has described his frequent use of sculptural modelling in painted form as a tripwire strategy that ‘distances the painting from painting’. Through his dedication to painting and consideration of its relationship to sculpture and other creative forms, Clark breaks down distinctions between artistic genres and mediums, unravelling the claims and posturings of painting from within.
Curated by Jacqueline Doughty.
Free Entry
Wednesday – Sunday
11am – 5pm
Hear from the artist
“I’ve always wanted the history of art to feature in some way in the work I was doing…I wanted to foreground it.”
Watch this interview with Tony Clark to hear directly from the artist about the development of Unsculpted and his sustained interest in the representation of sculpture and sculptural relief through painted form.
KEY ARTWORKS
Violet Centrepiece and Jade Piece
Tony Clark and Joanne Ritson Violet Centrepiece 2024, wax, aluminium, plaster Jade Piece 2024, wax, polystyrene Courtesy of the artists Photo: Christian Capurro
Landscape (Bronze Relief)
Tony Clark Landscape (bronze relief) 1988 oil on canvas Private collection, Melbourne Photo: Christian Capurro
Seated and Reclining
Tony Clark Seated & Reclining 2008 acrylic on canvas Buxton International Collection, Melbourne
Buehnenbild 2022
Tony Clark, Buehnenbild (Two Sections from Clark’s Myriorama) 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Commissioned by Canberra Museum and Gallery in partnership with the Canberra Art Biennale, 2022 Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Christian Capurro
Chinoiserie Landscape
Tony Clark, Chinoiserie Landscape 1987, oil on canvasboard, 40.5 × 50.7 cm. Collection of Professor Roger Benjamin, Sydney.
Jasperware Landscape
Tony Clark, Jasperware (Landscape) 1993, acrylic on canvas. The University of Melbourne Art Collection. The Michael Buxton Collection.
Vertical Umber, Horizontal Umber
Tony Clark and Joanne Ritson. Vertical Umber 2022, plasteline modelling clay, aluminium. Horizontal Umber 2022, plasteline modelling clay, aluminium. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Christian Capurro.
Exhibition Catalogue
Published to accompany his major exhibition, this beautifully illustrated publication spans over forty years of Tony Clark’s practice, with a focus on the representation of sculptural motifs through painted form.
Includes twelve texts by art historians, curators and artists, providing various perspectives on Clark’s work.
Available from Buxton Contemporary or by payment over phone.
ACCESS
Download exhibition room labels or request a printed (or large print) copy from the front desk.
Share your feedback on the exhibition and enter the draw to win a pair of Apple AirPods.
Image credit: Tony Clark, Jasperware (Landscape), 1993, acrylic on canvas. The University of Melbourne Art Collection. The Michael and Janet Buxton Collection.