Writing
Abstract painting came very late to Australia. Non geometric pure abstraction has been particularly late to develop here. Even now, almost all Australian abstract painters continue to refer to their work in relationship to landscape, light or nature, as if abstract painting is merely a reduction from, or an extension of, a motif from Nature. Such an approach is related to the kind of 19th and 20th century Symbolist practices from which abstraction initially arose, but such practices are quite distinct from those of the abstract painter.
“Abstract art remains misunderstood by the majority of the viewing public. Most people, in fact, consider it meaningless.” These words are from Maurice Tuchman, one of the few commentators brave enough to state the obvious truth. There are many reasons for the failure of understanding which Tuchman describes, but I single out one. Our culture has assumed a form, call it “materialistic consumerism”, which is in fundamental conflict with the aims and revelations of Abstract painting. By way of explication, I am going to tell a story which is an outlandish affront to conventional art history.