David Aspden

XX Mon. YYYY

On a whim on my way to the studio today I decided to first detour to the Dank Street Galleries. So glad I did! Not only was I priveleged to view an exhibition of drawings, maquettes and paintings by Joseph Albers at the Dominik Mersh Gallery but I discovered a retrospective of David Aspden's work upstairs at the Utopia Gallery. What a treat! Dank Street Galleries can be relied upon to provide a shot in the arm for any artlover but Aspden's Soft Forms is a truly inspiring exhibition.

The large and brightly coloured "Grevillea" is a symphony of reds and orange. Contrasted with the dark and brooding "Transendent Night" and several other works in sombre, moody colour schemes, the whole exhibition sings. The lyrical "May Day" is very John Olsen-like in its playful splashes and daubs of strongly-coloured paint applied over a wash of greens. And the majestic "Zahir", the largest work in the collection, is absolutley impressive in its confident handling of shape and colour. A tour-de-force in the lexicon of Australian abstraction.

The Art Gallery of NSW is currently hosting a retrospective of Aspden's work entitled The Colour of Music and Place, which I've yet to see, but I can hardly wait to get there and I would strongly recommend this show to anyone needing a visual boost, an injection of aesthetic energy. Particularly as the Utopia Gallery exhibition finshes today!

On the International art front, Canadian glass artist Sarah Hall has sent me a link to her latest commission, a collaborative mosaic entitled Wondrous Love - Opus 3881, which incorporates a new pipe organ in the sanctuary of St Barnabas on the Desert, Paradise Valley, Arizona. It is indeed rather wondrous and the slide show gives a fascinating insight into the making process.