New Romantics: Darkness and Light in Australian Art

Description

Something is happening in Australian art today. We are witnessing the resurgence of ideas that took root centuries ago – a return to passion in art, and a return to atmosphere and awe.Historians called it Romanticism; a disposition for melancholic yearning, for communion with nature, for the sublime. Australian artists, in countless numbers, are engaging with these themes again today.

Set against the dazzling backdrop of the Australian sublime, New Romantics charts the dynasties of Romantic art. From its nascent beginnings in European philosophy to a cause championed by Australian colonialists, this compelling survey seeks to understand how it has landed in the hands of a new generation of Australian artists.

Through the work of 36 contemporary Australian artists who have reinvigorated this movement, New Romantics traces the influences that led them to this unlikely path. This is the first book that seeks to understand a paradigm shift that is shaping the future course of Australian art.

Lavishly illustrated, New Romantics is a book for lovers of art, atmosphere, and awe. A compendium for the twenty-first century, New Romantics is a defining work on the return to beauty in Australian art.

Artists include: Rob Bartolo, Hannah Bertram, Magdalena Bors, William Breen, Sheridan Brown, Jane Burton, Jason Cordero, Peter Daverington, Iris Fischer, Dale Frank, Briele Hansen, Louise Hearman, Bill Henson, Petrina Hicks, Annie Hogan, Mark Kimber, Chris Langlois, Richard Lipp, Joanna Logue, Tony Lloyd, Susan Milne, John Morris, Saffron Newey, Sarah Nguyen, Izabela Pluta, Robbie Rowlands, Kathryn Ryan, Natalie Ryan, Sam Shmith, Sophia Szilagyi, Camilla Tadich, Juha Tolonen, Stephen Wickham, Philip Wolfhagen, Greg Wood, and Joel Zika.

SIMON GREGG has held professional posts at Heide Museum of Modern Art and City Museum at Old Treasury. Simon Gregg has curated over fifty exhibitions at a variety of venues, and has published widely on Australian art. He is currently curator of the Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale. New Romantics is his first full-length book.