Artist’s spirit returns as Whiteley studio reopens
Liz Hobday |
The final home and studio of one of Australia’s best-loved artists is reopening to the public after a two-year closure for building works.
Brett Whiteley’s studio in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills opens again on Saturday, with an exhibition of his work from the 1970s including the 16-metre wide epic painting Alchemy.
The Sydney-born artist is renowned for his sensuous use of line and colour, lyrical nudes, and ever-present appreciation of the city’s harbour.
Whiteley died of a methadone overdose in 1992 and his works remain sought after by collectors, with more than 40 of his paintings selling for more than $1 million at auction.
The artist bought the three-storey former T-shirt warehouse in 1985, transforming it into a gallery and work space.
And just like Australia’s national gallery in Canberra in recent years, its roof had seen better days.
“The roof leaks were a hell of a worry, it was getting to be a public building with buckets to catch the water,” said the artist’s former wife Wendy Whiteley.
The oldest part of the building dated back to the 1890s, while the front section was a flimsy build from the 1920s, according to architect Peter Tonkin.
He designed a curvy replacement roof, an architectural manifestation of the generous lines the artist was renowned for.
The project became a chance for other improvements, such as a soundproof plant room to keep Whiteley’s valuable paintings in a temperature-controlled environment.
A small research library was added, as well as accessible lifts and toilets.
“There was a lot more building work than I think anyone imagined at the outset,” said Mr Tonkin, from Sydney architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Studio museums are relatively rare in Australia, with the building managed by the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1995.
The project came with particular challenges: the artist’s paintbrushes, paints and spraycans, and personal items (even including a bird specimen) had to to be put back as Whiteley left them decades ago.
There were dozens of photos and clippings on the walls, as well as artistic scribblings – notes on life, art, and one note in pencil that simply read “God”.
The gallery’s conservators treated all these as artworks in themselves, carefully protecting them during the building works so the public would never know the difference, said Tonkin.
“Even the paint splatters on the floor in Brett’s studio were carefully overlaid with waterproof membranes, so you wouldn’t realise that anything’s happened,” he said.
Wendy Whiteley was overwhelmed when she first saw the finished space.
“It’s just absolutely beautiful, now the paintings and the sculptures are back Brett’s spirit has returned, he’s come home again,” she said.
The opening weekend of Brett Whiteley: Coming Home will feature talks and a program of events, with 80 artworks on show from the gallery and studio collection.
“It’s valuable for the public to see how Brett Whiteley worked, the paint brushes on the box of paints and a bit of mess, and the old wicker chair that no-one but the artist was allowed to sit in,” said Tonkin.
AAP