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Peter Graham | |
|---|---|
 Peter Graham, Sydney, 1953 | |
| Born | 4 June 1925 |
| Died | 15 April 1987(1987-04-15) (aged 61) |
Peter Benjamin Graham (4 June 1925 – 15 April 1987) was an Australian visual artist, printer, and art theorist.
In 1954, Graham began to explore native Australian wildlife (notablyKangaroos) and themes associated with Aboriginal culture, using the visual languages of European figurativemodernism and, later, geometricabstraction.
He began developing a new form of visual geometry related toChaos Theory from 1960, eventually called Thematic Orchestration. This new visual language enabled the 2Ddeconstruction and synthesis of an observed subject, in a way fundamentally different from traditional abstraction. Thematic Orchestration allowed the artist to 'grow' an image, producing almost infinite conscious invention.
In 1964, Graham began developing what he called a high-level visual notation system for pure visual imagery, which he first named "Notation Painting" and later "New Epoch Art".[1]
Graham was a pioneer of theAustralian artist-run initiative movement and ran The Queensberry Street Gallery in association with Victorian Printmakers' Group from 1973 until 1978.
In 2006, Graham's 1945 paintingPeter Lalor Addressing the Miners Before Eureka was featured in a major Australian travelling exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of theEureka Stockade. This painting is also featured in Riot or Revolution,[2] a dramatized history documentary on the Eureka Stockade directed by Don Parham[3] and produced by Parham Media Productions in association with theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005.
Peter Graham was born 4 June 4, 1925 and raised in theMelbourne suburb of Hartwell. He was awarded a scholarship to Melbourne Technical College Art School for one year in 1939. He studied HandLithography with Ross McClintock Studios (Colour separation from artists' originals, drawn aslithographic plates – 24 sheet positives, etc.) between 1940 and 1941. Graham transferred his indenture to PhotoGravures Pty Ltd. in 1941. There, he was trained by master craftsmen in facsimile reproduction and pre-pressRotogravure techniques during the war years. He received his Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship in 1946.
Between 1941 and 1946, Graham studied fine art withVictor Greenhalgh and John Rowell in night classes atMelbourne Technical College – figure and portraiture.
In 1945, Graham joined theVictorian Artists Society and exhibited his first painting in the Australia at War Exhibition at theNational Gallery of Victoria. At the same time, he began his association with the MelbourneSocial Realism group, which included:Noel Counihan, Josl Berger,[4]Victor O'Connor,Ma Mahood,Herbert McClintock,Rembrandt McClintock, Frank Andrew, and Nutta Buzzacott. He exhibited regularly at the Victorian Artists Society until 1947.
In 1946, he was awarded the Ferntree Gully Art Prize for best watercolour, 'Back Streets of Hawthorn'; a year later, he was awarded the Herald prize for best drawing, 'The Smokers'. He left for England withGrahame King in August 1947.
Between 1947 and 1949, Graham lived and painted atThe Abbey Arts Centre in New Barnet, London, along with artistsLeonard French,James Gleeson,Douglas Allan Green,Stacha Halpern,Grahame King,Inge King andRobert Klippel. During this time, he also befriended the Irish 'folk' artistGerald Dillon who lived nearby and who introduced Graham to the visual languages ofPicasso andMatisse. He exhibited in group shows atWilliam Ohly's Berkeley Galleries, and the Contemporary Artists' Society in London.[5]
In 1948, Graham studied drawing underBernard Meninsky atCentral School of Art, London. But with his money running short, he decided to go back to work atOdhams Press. He specialized in the inverted half-toneDultgen process and masked colour separation until 1950.
In 1950, Graham traveled through France and Italy before returning to Sydney under a three-year contract toAustralian Consolidated Press working as a specialist in colour separation.
Between 1951 and 1953, Graham exhibited paintings in various group shows in Sydney, including the InauguralBlake Prize for Religious Art.
In 1954, Graham rode aBSA 500 motorcycle non-stop fromSydney to Melbourne. After rebuilding the bike, he headed across toAdelaide then rode solo up along the route of what is now theStuart Highway toAlice Springs over five days. There he worked as a builder's laborer for 18 months while painting on the side, until the end of 1955. During this time he worked and painted alongside Aboriginal artists,Adolf Inkamala and the Pareroultja Brothers. He helped build the John Flynn Memorial Church[6] and government housing atHermannsburg Mission. At Hermannsburg, Graham met anthropologistTed Strehlow, who transformed his way of seeing the Australian landscape and Aboriginal culture.
Graham spent six months inFiji painting and drawing in 1956.
1956–1960: Graham returned to Melbourne, rejoined PhotoGravures Pty Ltd. Shared a studio withLeonard French and befriended the New Zealand born artistGeorge Johnson, who introduced Graham to the work ofKandinsky,Klee andMondrian. Painted a series of abstract works based on his Central Australian experience. These were exhibited atGallery A (Melbourne) in 1960, founded in the same year by Max Hutchinson andClement Meadmore.
From 1971 to 1978, Graham created a series of experimental works using photographic and lithographic techniques and materials.
In 1971, Graham befriended artist Paul Cavell and collaborated with him on his Notation Paintings between 1974 and 1976.
In 1973, he opened the Peter Graham Gallery at 225 Queensberry Street, Carlton (6 April) supported by a photo-lithographic workshop in the same premises. Closed this gallery in 1974 and reopened it as the Queensberry Street Gallery in 1977.
Graham's Solo Exhibitions at the Queensberry Street Gallery:
During 1977, Graham collaborated with Noela Hjorth[8] and the Victorian Printmakers' Group which at the time was lobbying for space in the Victorian Government's proposed Meatmarket Craft space. He was appointed to the Interim Committee in the formation stages of the Meatmarket Craft Centre[9] and helped to draw up a plan for the establishment of an access workshop for Printmakers at the Meatmarket. As part of his involvement, he set up a plate-graining service for artists and student Printmakers and became the manager of this facility.
Victorian Printmakers' Workshop group show opened at The Queensberry Street Gallery by ProfessorBernard Smith 26 July 1977.
Graham closed his gallery in 1978 and transferred his workshop to a home studio in Canterbury (Melbourne) at the end of the year.
Graham returned to development of Notation Painting in 1986 in collaboration with his son, Philip Mitchell Graham. Arranged with Jan Martin for a retrospective exhibition to be held at her gallery in Lyttleton Street,Castlemaine, Victoria.
Graham was admitted to the Hospital where he was diagnosed withCancer of the oesophagus December 1986.
Graham died on 15 April 1987 at Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Melbourne.
A memorial exhibition for Graham opened at the Lyttleton Gallery, Castlemaine in central Victoria on 6 June 1987, two days after what would have been his 62nd birthday.
In 1989 Cynthia Graham was interviewed about her husband, Peter Graham.[17]
There are currently two tape recordings by Peter Graham available at theNational Library of Australia, Petherick Oral History Reading Room:
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