5 - 26 October 2003

Image : Michele and Jurek’s Place 2003 Oil on Linen 45 x 40 cm

• Richard Gunning's paintings reveal an intense interest in the aesthetic possibilities of the interior spaces of studio and home. Focus is upon the value and integrity of ordinary objects within these settings - a shoe, ladder, chair, fruit, flowers. In the works (whether scrutinising a few objects or an entire room) concentration is upon variety of surface texture and compositional balance, aided by the unifying (and often dramatic) effects of colour and light.

• Beyond an exposition of technical virtuosity, these paintings suggest a considerable interest in the nature of illusion and construction of the visible world in painting. The various images of Gunning's studio interior can be read as a series which moves between concurrent desires to reveal and conceal. The Studio Visit (1999) depicts a wide view of the artist's workspace, detailed and partially reorganised aspects of which are presented in other works. In the space of the studio objects are exposed in varying states - doors are left open and closed, a mirror reflects other aspects of the room, fabric swathes table and chairs, and curtains are pushed back to glimpse a world outside - so that what is not revealed in one work might be understood in another. Renderings of existing studio paintings also appear as objects within particular works. In White Chair with Painting (1999) the microcosmic world of a still life with chair, jacket, sneakers, take-away coffee cup and shell is combined with a studio interior study propped upon the shoes, revealing aspects of the larger environment in which the objects in the painting 'reside'.

• Gunning's work continually oscillates between an austerity and economy in the use of objects (Chair with Peach Painting, 1999) and almost exaggerated combinations of the ephemera of everyday life (The Blue Table, 1998). The abundance of items collected in the latter image is almost a parody of the Dutch still life tradition in which objects appear delicately balanced just prior (it seems) to their inevitable disintegration. The potentially chaotic effects of such an assortment is, however, entirely avoided as disparate elements are unified through the use of strong colour and dramatic lighting. Concentration upon the effects of light also transforms this amalgam into a group of objects with significant aesthetic value, to be approached with some reverie.

• Although the artist does not present himself in these studio and domestic interiors, his presence is consistently inferred in the precious objects revealed and spaces inhabited daily. This adds a highly imaginative dimension to the viewer's act of looking. Narratives within and without the picture frame are suggested despite an almost absolute lack of human presence in the works. When a figure is added (as in the Studio Visit, 1999) the individual is shown as thoroughly absorbed with pictures on a pin board. Her presence does not deflect from the real action of the picture - rather it mirrors the position of the viewer, whose gaze is similarly concentrated upon the intense variety of objects depicted and the meanings they evoke.

• Dr. Sally Quin Curator (Collections) Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery The University of Western Australia June 2003