Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW
9 April – 5 June, 2022
Reflections on life, death and rejuvenation are explored by artist Robert Hirschmann in a suite of paintings celebrating a new chapter in his life: the move from North East Victoria, through Sydney to the Central West region, and new beginnings at Portland.
In each work he creates, Hirschmann references pictures seen, books read, music heard, landscapes traversed, and life lived. His bold brush marks follow in the footsteps of Tony Tuckson, David Aspden and Ian Fairweather; Australian artists whose paintings appear abstract upon first viewing but are steeped in symbolism.
Past Night explores rebirth — the trauma of loss, of mentors, of loved ones, of a home carefully crafted by hand, the dislocation of moving and more pertinently, the fire and security of love and the slow beginnings of connection to a new place.
Image: Past night 2021, oil on linen, 90 x 90cm. Photo: Silversalt Photography
