CONTENTS

6 Director’s Foreword

8 Informal Relations

10 Whitewash

11 Transient

12 Feu

14 Incendiary

16 Downtown

18 Araignee

22 Pont

24 Loophole

26 Pala

28 Cache

30 Antibes

32 Arboretum

34 Leftfield

36 Biography

40 Price List

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The Cat Street Gallery is proud to announce a new exhibition and first solo show of fantastic works by young Australian talent, Anthony White.

White’s most recent paintings showcased here in Hong Kong embody, with a youthful and fresh approach, the Australian movement experienced in recent years - a return to technique.

Informal Relations is one man’s study and fascination with painting - and more specifically form, texture, and the process of abstraction - for it is the process and application of paint to canvas that bewitches White. His majestic, contemplative and powerful works, which reveal tantalising hints of landscape and dazzle with thoughtful hues and tones, are truly compelling. For any lover of paint, and indeed any lover of a knowing and bold brush stroke, White’s show is not only going to satisfy, it will leave its audience wanting more.

White displays an instinct and passion for painting which is rarely seen in an artist of his age, and with artworks shown over the world, we greatly look forward to presenting this solo exhibition of an unmissable talent.

Mandy d’Abo

Founder and Director The Cat Street Gallery

DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD

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For artist Anthony White, the physical act of painting is an intrinsic part of his practice. In the sanctuary of his studio, White begins by quietly mixing paint, the smooth hues required for his palette might require a day or so to perfect. Working on one painting at a time, the pace quickens while he builds a structure in layers - freely improvising with the paint while adding collage to the production. White has found that in these ‘lost’ moments he’s able to do his best work. He becomes, in effect, the sole writer, director and actor of this performance - some of which will only be played out inside his head. Like one of his influences, the American abstractionist Lee Krasner, the artist tries to keep his conscious mind “from interfering with [his] goal to be intuitive and spontaneous”. Although they’re drawn from the depths of his inner psyche, White’s randomly produced images embody universal qualities.

Still a young artist, White’s resume is already impressive. Only a few years after graduating from the National Art School, in 2007 the Sydney-based artist received the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship. The Bequest provided White the opportunity for travel and study in North America, which he followed up with the further honour of receiving the 2009 Storrier Onslow National Art School Studio Residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. White spent 3 months working and studying in the French city before deciding in 2010 to immerse himself in the history of L’Ecole de Paris and make Paris his permanent home.

This new exhibition of White’s paintings, entitled Informal Relations, is concerned with capturing fleeting moments in nature. The title of his show is deliberately ambiguous and White’s ‘informal relations’ exist on several levels - form and colour, artist and paint, artist and canvas. New experiences in foreign places and the soft northern hemisphere light have led to fresh perspectives which the artist has vigorously expressed on canvas. Are these glimpses of landscapes, memories of places visited or simply pure abstraction?

INFORMAL RELATIONS

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White’s paintings are spontaneous and not literal readings of anything. Through form and colour they represent an unrestrained rendition of certain snapshots in time. In Pala and Cache disorderly shapes and soft edges organise and fill space while in works like Araignee and Loophole dark and hard-edged overpainting creates depth. In the past White has painted in thick textural layers but for this series he’s paid more attention to the authenticity of the paint. White’s freedom in expression has generated some magical arrangements. From the flat cornflower blues and pistachio greens of Antibes where composition relies on contrast, White shifts gear to Downtown and it’s harmony of blues punctuated with black.

Through both his method and recent experience White has emerged as an international artist whose unique vision of the world speaks a universal language. As Piet Mondrian once said, “We should not see beyond nature. Rather, we should, so to speak, see through nature. We should see more deeply, see abstractly, and above all universally.”

Sharne Wolff

November 2012

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Plate 1: Whitewash Oil and collage on paper68 x 90 cm 2011

11

Plate 2: Transient Oil and collage on paper

68 x 90 cm 2011

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Plate 3: FeuOil on linen76 x 76 cm 2011

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14

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Plate 4: IncendiaryOil on linen76 x 76 cm

2011

16

Plate 5: DowntownOil on linen126 x 156 cm 2012

19

Plate 6: AraigneeOil on linen

126 x 156 cm 2012

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“ In the sanctuary of his studio, White

begins by quietly mixing paint, the

smooth hues required for his palette

might require a day or so to perfect.

Working on one painting at a time,

the pace quickens while he builds a

structure in layers - freely improvising

with the paint while adding collage

to the production.”

- Sharne Wolff

22

Plate 7: PontOil on linen126 x 156 cm 2012

23

24

25

Plate 8: LoopholeOil on linen

126 x 156 cm 2012

26

Plate 9: PalaOil on linen126 x 156 cm 2012

29

Plate 10: CacheOil on linen

126 x 156 cm 2012

30

Plate 11: AntibesOil on linen126 x 156 cm 2012

31

32

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Plate 12: ArboretumOil on linen

126 x 156 cm 2012

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Plate 13: LeftfieldOil on linen126 x 156 cm 2012

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1976 Born in Sydney, Australia

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012 Informal Relations, The Cat St Gallery, Hong Kong

2011 Scratching the Surface, Iain Dawson Gallery, Sydney

2010 Paris Paintings, Iain Dawson Gallery, Sydney

2008 Figure and Ground, Rushcutters Bay Gallery, Sydney

2007 Diverse Places with Marlene Antico Fine Arts, Sydney

2006 Arthouse Atrium Gallery, Sydney

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012 Signal 8: STORM, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Heat, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2011 FONAS: An Artist at My Table, NAS, Sydney, Australia Iain Dawson Gallery Group Show, Sydney, Australia Summer Show with COMODAA, Gallery Maya, London, UK Signal 8, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong The Affordable Art Fair, London with COMODAA Gallery

2010 5 BY 5, COMODAA, The Menier Gallery, London UK The Winter Exhibition Rundgang, LIA Leipzig, Germany (curated by Anna Louise Kratzsch) White Christmas, Christmas Group Exhibition, Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane

2009 Atelier-Works from the Cité Internationale Des Arts, FONAS and Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney

2008 Art Melbourne 08, Rushcutters Bay Gallery, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Art Sydney 08, Rushcutters Bay Gallery, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney

2007 Diverse Places, Mary Place Gallery, Paddington, Sydney (curated by Marlene Antico) Art Sydney 07, Rushcutters Bay Gallery, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney The New York Studio School Summer Exhibition, New York

BIOGRAPHY

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2006 The Churchie Emerging National Emerging Artist Exhibition, ACGS Brisbane The Willoughby Art Prize Finalists Exhibition, Sydney The Blake Prize Exceptions Exhibition, Chase Gallery, Annandale The Norvill Art Prize for Landscape Painting, Murrurundi, NSW The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship Finalists Exhibition, Sydney

2005 The Churchie Emerging Artist Exhibition, ACGS (Highly Commended), Brisbane Four Young Australian Artists, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney (Curated by Julius Bokor) Hills Grammar Art Prize (Finalist), Sydney Art On The Rocks Finalists Exhibition, The Rocks ,Sydney Propeller Art and Design Award, Sydney FONAS Infusion Exhibition, The Cellblock Gallery, Sydney FONAS/ASX Reuters Exhibition, The Cellblock Gallery, Sydney The John Olsen Drawing Exhibition, National Art School, Sydney The Degree Show 05, National Art School, Sydney The Paddington Art Prize Exhibition, Sydney

2004 FONAS/ASX Reuters Exhibition, The Cellblock Gallery, Sydney

SELECTED AWARDS, COMMISIONS & RESIDENCIES

2012 New Work Commission, Catherine Martin, New York, USA

2011 New Work Commission, Catherine Martin, Sydney, Australia New Work Commission, RIOM Medicale France

2010 Leipzig International Art Programme Scholarship, Leipzig, Germany Artist in Residence, La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris

2009 The Storrier Onslow National Art School Studio Residency Award, La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (Awarded by William Wright, AM)

2008 Artist in Residence, The Vermont Studio Centre, Vermont, USA

2007 The Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, USA

2006 The Churchie Emerging Artist Exhibition, ACGS (Highly Commended), Brisbane The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship Finalists Exhibition, Sydney

2005 The Gruner Prize for Landscape Painting, AGNSW, Sydney The Churchie Emerging Artist Exhibition, ACGS (Commended), Brisbane

2003 Great Southland Landscape Exhibition, (People’s Choice Award and Winner)

2002 The Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award, (Highly Commended)

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PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Arthouse Atrium, Sydney The Radisson Group, Sydney The Julian Beaumont Collection, Sydney RIOM Clemont-Ferrand, France

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Paris, Clermont-Ferrand, Tokyo, London and New York

SYMPOSIUMS, LECTURES, APPEARANCES

2013 Artist Talk, The Cat Street Gallery, January 2013

2010 New Work, Public presentation, LIA, Leipzig International Art Programme, December 2010 Turn! Appearance on Anna Hoetjes Video Installation, The Spinnerei, Leipzig, November 2010

2008 On methodology: Insights into the creative process, public lecture, The Loewe Theatre, Johnson, Vermont

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brennan, Valerie, Studio Critical, Contemporary Approaches to Painting, 5th October 2010 Crawford, Ashley, 5x5 Exhibition, London, Catalogue Essay, 27th May 2010 Dal, Inga, Undercover Painter Blogspot: It takes one to know one, 16th January 2010 Geissler, Marie, Figure and Ground, Catalogue Essay, 6th November, 2008 Lau, Katie, The Herald Sun: Iain Dawson Opening, 7th February, 2010 Lytton, Harry, The Aburturian Online Magazine, 5x5 at The Menier Gallery, 29th June 2010 Thompson, Emma, The FONAS Spring Newsletter: The Marten Bequest, 29th November 2009 Thompson, Emma, The FONAS Summer 08-09 Newsletter: Paris Report, 23rd February 2009 Wolff, Sharne, Catalogue Essay from Recent Works, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong, 2012

EDUCATION

2007 The New York Studio School Marathon Program, New York

2003 Bachelor of Fine Art, The National Art School, Sydney (with artist Aida Tomescu)

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222 Hollywood Road | T +852 2291 0006 | www.thecatstreetgallery.comThe Cat Street Gallery