Peter Gardiner

The kooragang series

Exhibition dates: Wed 20 February to Sat 8 March, 2008
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Exhibiting since 1995, Peter Gardiner has developed a unique style of painting which consists of wiping away the paint from the surface of the canvas. Completely covering the painting with wet enamel or oil paint, Gardiner then pulls and pushes with brushes, cardboard, rubber and rag to create a mark whilst the surface is still wet. With minimal or no reference to sketches and studies, Gardiner works straight onto the surface at a brisk pace.

The imagery he has developed matured in the Pile and Debris Fields series shown over the last few years at the Damien Minton Gallery. The initial influence comes from a fascination with anthropological sites of Australian indigenous middens. Gardiner replaces the objects and items of the middens with urban detritus.

Living near the metal recycling plants in Newcastle, and the old BHP steel works have been an endless source of visual stimulation.

In this new body of work, The Kooragang Series, Gardiner has been painting studies, ‘plein air’, of the Newcastle industrial landscape which hugs the Hunter port and river.

It is a landscape which he describes as ‘being left behind’.

The recent floods which swamped Newcastle and the torrential rain storms during late 2007 have helped create a new atmospheric element to Gardiner’s work.

 

Date of birth 27.4.1965

Education
1983 – 1990	Bachelor of Arts (visual arts) High Distinction in painting University of Newcastle
Selected Exhibitions
2008	The Kooragang Series, solo exhibition at the Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern
2007	Dobell Drawing Prize, finalist, AGNSW
2007	Solo exhibition, Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern
2007	Mosman Art Prize, finalist
2006	Kilgour Art Prize, Newcastle, finalist
2006	Mosman Art Prize, finalist
2006	Solo exhibition, debris fields, at the Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern
2006	Winner, Maitland Art Prize
2005	2005: The Year In Art, invitation group exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2005	Solo exhibition, new work at the Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern
2005	Mosman Art Prize, finalist
2003	solo exhibition, as the population grows, at the Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle
2003	Mosman Art Prize, finalist
2003	12 artists from Newcastle in Sydney, the Depot Gallery, Waterloo presented by the damien minton gallery
2002	Ten artists from Newcastle in Sydney The Depot Gallery, Waterloo, Sydney presented by the damien minton gallery, Newcastle
2002	Solo exhibition of new work, damien minton gallery, Newcastle
1999	Legge Gallery, Sydney
1998	Arcania Canberra Contemporary Art Space
1997	new work Tin Sheds, University of Sydney
1996	Arcane Reverie 3 Rocket Art, Newcastle
1995	Arcane Reverie 2 Airspace, Canberra
1995	Arcane Reverie Rocket Art, Newcastle
Awards
2007	Finalist, Dobell Drawing Prize, AGNSW
2006	Finalist, The Kilgour Art Prize, Newcastle
2006	Winner, Maitland Acquisitive Art Prize
1998	art studio scholarship, Artspace, Woolloomooloo NSW Ministry of the Arts
1990	Sulman Prize finalist, AGNSW and touring show
1989	Sulman Prize finalist, AGNSW and touring show