Anna Platten is devilishly crazy
A surprise trip to Adelaide took me to the Art Gallery of South Australia. For a relatively small gallery, it really punches above its weight with stunning, carefully curated exhibitions like Fred Williams and Lidia Groblicka. The real eye-popper for me was Anna Platten. Her work is stunning, precise and opens up a cornucopia of wonder.
What especially struck me is that she creates full scale dioramas of each scene, sewing costumes and creating props so she can painstakingly recreate it.
This image is a fool’s journey – the dress is actual vintage, the hobby horse exists and there’s the crazy windmill on a stick. I love that it’s such a hybrid of old-school new-school. It really is bewitching.
If that’s not enough, there’s Fred Williams who dramatised Australian landscapes like no-one else, paring them right back to their essence. It was amazing for me that such an accomplished artist continually educated himself through courses and artbooks. A great lesson that you never stop learning, especially in art.
Comments