Lynne's Theatre Notes

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/tim-olsen-autobiography-son-of-the-brush/ TIM OLSEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY : SON OF THE BRUSH 1 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER Tim Olsen’s autobiography SON OF THE BRUSH is a glorious, fascinating read full of joy and warmth that is contrasted with pain and tragedy . It is quite intimately revealing and frank at times, giving a compelling insight into the Australian art scene. There is a table of contents at the front, an index and bibliography at the back and quite a few illustrations. Tim, who runs the Olsen Gallery in Sydney, is the son of one of Australia’s best known artists John Olsen (think  Salute to Five Bells  at the Opera House for example) and the book also considers how he has struggled to find his own identity rather than living in the shadow of his famous father, as well as his battle with illness and alcoholism. Olsen was born into a life of modern and contemporary art.  The art came first; an absolute vocation for Joh...

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/minhwa-today/ This marvellous exhibition co-presented by the Traditional Korean Minhwa Center in South Korea and the Korean Cultural Centre Australia , features 25 pieces of modern minhwa, referring to the folk painting style of Korea which thrived during the Joseon period (1392-1910), exploring the unique aesthetics and sentiments of the Korean art genre reinterpreted by contemporary minhwa artists of today. Very popular among the general population of that period, minhwa works are known for their unique use of space in the compositions and vivid colours, representing the wishes , hope and dreams of the people as each object drawn represents its own meaning. The exhibition also presents different types of chaekgado (also called chaekkori) paintings, which is a genre of still-life that depicts books and other decorative objects . The works displayed include depictions of exquisite, delicate butterflies, flowers, ferocious tigers , mythical swirli...

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/traffic-jam-galleries-the-birds/ SCULPTURE ,  VISUAL ARTS TRAFFIC JAM GALLERIES : THE BIRDS 11 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Andrew Grassi Kelaher ‘Cheeky Lorikeet’ This is a most exciting, bold and colourful exhibition celebrating our feathered avian friends in a variety of media. Twenty two artists are included. Kayden Bailey  is represented by the diptych  Letting Go . Deceptively delicate in appearance, hung together they form a v shape composition full of swirling vibrancy. The amazingly intricate and detailed work of  Megan Barrass  with parrots, cockatoos and native fauna is explosively colourful. Andrew Bennett’s   The Owl Index  is hauntingly mysterious – an owl (symbol of wisdom) perched on top of old fashioned library card shelves against a nighttime landscape. Also important is the balancing meditation rocks on top of the shelves. We also see  Ebony Bennett’s  ...

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/the-song-company-esperar-sentir-morir/ THE SONG COMPANY ESPERAR SENTIR MORIR (TO HOPE, TO FEEL, TO DIE) 17 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT An intimate, rich and inspiring concert presented by The Song Company and Jewish Arts, this features soprano  Roberta Diamond  and harpist  Hannah Lane. They had a splendid rapport. The title of the program comes from the song ESPERAR, SENTIR, MORIR  (which can be translated as – to hope, to feel, to die). The concert presented Baroque and Renaissance music of the Iberian Peninsula , traditional exquisite Sephardic melodies and its affect that spread throughout Europe. Most of the works presented were romantic in subject, passionate and tender, depicting both the highs and lows of love and loss. The traditional Sephardic melodies of exquisite beauty, rarely if ever performed here in Australia were interspersed  with theatre music from the Spanish Golden Age....

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/june-bronhill-a-star-on-her-door-by/ BOOKS & WRITING ,  MEMOIR ,  MUSIC ,  MUSICAL THEATRE ,  OPERA A STAR ON HER DOOR : THE LIFE AND CAREER OF JUNE BRONHILL 19 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT This is an affectionate, delightful look at the life of June Bronhill, one of Australia’s theatrical legends, by Richard Davis. The book has twelve chapters, a list of June’s stage performances (this reviewer saw her several times in various productions), a list of the recordings she made and a select bibliography as well as an index and a loving forward by Marina Prior. All the photos included are in black and white. June’s career included performances in grand opera, comic opera/operetta, musicals, straight plays, variety, radio, concerts, television and assorted recordings. Her extraordinary talent brought her success, fame and the devotion of a legion of fans. There was a private June the public rarely...

 https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/australian-chamber-orchestra-rapture/ AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA : RAPTURE 21 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Led by Richard Tognetti, this was a magnificent concert by the Australian Chamber Orchestra filmed at City Recital Hall, the first of their online Studiocasts. The concert opened frenetically with explosively emphatic strings in Schubert ‘s ( arr.Tognetti ) ‘Quartettsatz in C Minor D 703’. While only one of four planned movements, it is striking and organically formed to stand alone. There were strong, pulsating melodies and a fiery dialogue between the two sections of the Orchestra. The music ebbs and flows, swoops and dives, swirls and rapidly cascades. The same busy chords that open the movement wildly come full circle to close it. The restatement of those chords also sees the return of the emotionally eloquent second theme which is presented in a different tone to how we first hear it. The third theme is ...

https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/coma-gallery-jack-lanagan-dunbar-signal/   JACK LANAGAN DUNBAR : SIGNAL @ COMA GALLERY 27 FEBRUARY 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT This is Jack Lanagan Dunbar’s (b.1988) second solo presentation at COMA Gallery. In SIGNAL we see two linked sets of themed works created in quite separate locations – electrotypes produced on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands during a residency enabled by an Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant, and paintings composed in Leipzig, Germany, during the last two years. Dunbar won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship in 2019 and the current exhibition marks another outpouring of work. The exhibition pervades with a sense of timelessness, of rediscovering ancient treasure. Both series are linked by the use of copper. The Malachite Paintings are in some ways like swirling underwater coral, and capture the feel of intertidal rock pools, and both series have the sense of dramatic energy. ...

  https://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/elaine-haxton-by-lorraine-penny-mclaughlin-a-colourful-artist-and-life/ BOOKS & WRITING ,  MEMOIR ,  SCULPTURE ,  VISUAL ARTS ELAINE HAXTON BY LORRAINE PENNY MCLAUGHLIN 11 MARCH 2021   LYNNE LANCASTER   LEAVE A COMMENT Where did she get the energy from?! Art was her life. This is a large, beautifully, lavishly illustrated coffee table book about the fascinating life of ELAINE HAXTON, excellently researched. This publication is divided into ten chapters with a forward by Adam Wynn. While yes there is a table of contents at the front and an extensive bibliography, this is one of those excellent but annoying books that doesn’t have an index. Copies of newspaper clippings and brief information about various people or events are included in highlight boxes on the page. We learn that Haxton travelled wildly, which expanded and developed her oeuvre. She worked in various media and often juggled different projects all at onc...