Sydney and regional NSW: Godwin Bradbeer

Godwin Bradbeer Aspects of the Metaphysical Body
Drawings
until 3 November
Annandale Galleries, Sydney

And touring;
Godwin Bradbeer The Metaphysical Body
Grafton Regional Gallery from 28 September 2007
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery from 29 October
Mosman Regional Art Gallery from 8 December 2007

Left: © Godwin Bradbeer Imago 1 Folio 2 2006. Chinagraph, pastel dust and silver oxide on Arches. Courtsey the artist and Annandale Galleries Sydney.

Godwin Bradbeer's Imago series of giant heads makes the Dobell Drawing Prize shortlist just about every year, however it wasn't one of these that won the award in 1998. That was an almost full figure, Man of paper VII. This year's entry, Imago XVI, is still on view at AGNSW, and Imago 1 Folio 2 (pictured left) was last year's Dobell entry, and is part of the exhibition just opened at Annandale Galleries. Bradbeer is not a 'hip' artist, and not everyone likes his figure studies, but LF is a definite fan of the Imago series in particular, and of Bradbeer's sensual mark-making.

The NZ-born artist is a senior lecturer in drawing at Melbourne's RMIT, and his large, one-off works on paper have a significant collector base, however he remains somewhat undervalued commercially, and is under-represented in institutional collections. LF has at times heard his work disparaged as overly sentimental, and we can understand that some people might find the recurrent Imago series, with its androdgynous, Asian child's face, not to their taste, while others find them serene and somewhat Buddhist. They are not, we understand, drawn from life, and it's as if Bradbeer is repeatedly receating a spiritual vision that exists in his mind - it always appears to be the same child, but each head is markedly different. This is by no means his only motif, and there are many other fine works in both the Annandale and touring shows. Bradbeer is one of our great drawing talents and creates surfaces of extraordinary sensuality and depth.

Also at Annandale, in the main room: Guy Warren Still Flowing
Watercolours, Diaries & Sketchbooks Installation, until 3 November
Although certainly worth a look, LF did not especially warm to Warren's faux-naive 'Aboriginal-inspired' watercolours on the walls, but found his vitrine-displayed notebooks and journals to be fascinating, and far more indicative of Warren's huge talent.