Category Archives: CROKE, JIM

Jim Croke + Peter Tilley – Closing 10 November

The current sculpture exhibitions by JIM CROKE and PETER TILLEY will be on view until Saturday 10th of November.

Based on found objects, the small sculptures in Jim Croke‘s exhibition, Scaled Down, range from solid cubes overflowing with geometric shapes to curved and fluid lines. These compact sculptures are full of movement and activity, defying the weighty quality of steel and iron.

Peter Tilley‘s new collection features his well known visual symbols, the solitary figure, a boat, window, cloud or set of stairs which he now combines with his love of reworking beautiful old timbers. Tilley‘s works continue to be inbued with a certain stillness or calm, not subdued or impassive, but both pensive and contemplative.

Also, please see Peter Tilley‘s sculptures at Sculpture by the Sea – Bondi until the 4th of November and Sculpture in the Vineyards until the 3rd of December.

Jim Croke + Peter Tilley – Opening 23 October

Scaled Down is the new series of sculptures by Jim Croke. Scale is often disregarded as a consideration when making sculpture when it shouldn’t be, as it is just as vital as other components like subject matter, materials and composition. These sculptures are not maquettes but are works that are comfortable at the size they are.

This next body of work by Peter Tilley, On the Nature of Things, is a privately constructed environment that is a juxtaposition of unlikely objects; collectively a symbolic arrangement that both illustrates and defies the ordinary.

September ‘Staff Picks’ Exhibition

Currently on view at Brenda May Gallery in addition to the solo exhibitions by Sybil Curtis and Michael Edwards is a small collection of work by our Represented Artists as selected by the Gallery staff. The work ranges from Melinda Le Guay’s ‘Linework’ drawings from 2002-2004 to the major urban landscape painting by Robert Boynes from 1995. The small show featuring Robert Boynes, Jim Croke, Sybil Curtis, Melinda Le Guay and Lezlie Tilley will be on view until Saturday 29 September.

2002 Self-Portrait Exhibition

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As we prepared for our current group exhibition of self-portraiture titled In The Mirror, we looked back into our archives at the 2002 exhibition of the same theme. A number of our Represented Artists exhibited in the 2002 show including Robert Boynes, Jim Croke, James Guppy, Carol Murphy, Lezlie Tilley and Peter Tilley. A selection of their work is included above.

Come and join us tomorrow to celebrate the opening of In The Mirror from 4-6pm.

Lezlie Tilley + ‘Major Artists, Major Works’, Closing 3 March

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A gentle reminder to visit the solo exhibition by LEZLIE TILLEY and the group show MAJOR ARTISTS, MAJOR WORKS before they both close on Saturday 3 March.

The angular and abstracted forms of Lezlie Tilley’s current exhibition were created by connecting the ‘a’s’ on a page from a novel. The shapes have then been laser cut in predominantly bright red, coloured acrylic which makes for an amazingly dynamic show. Due to the ongoing nature of the concept of the ‘a-less novel’, further works can also be commissioned in a wide range of materials including timber, metal and ply.

From Senden Blackwood‘s sensual, one tonne basalt sculpture to the minute watercolour figures, deftly hidden in Mylyn Nguyen‘s found chairs, the Major Artists, Major Works exhibition highlights the diversity of talent present in the Gallery‘s stable of artists.

Our next exhibitions during Art Month, will feature work by represented artists, James Guppy and Will Coles, from Tuesday March 6. If you are already on our notification list, we will send you an email as soon as the work arrives in the Gallery.

Jim Croke in ‘Sculpture 2012′

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Jim Croke, ‘The Short’ 2011, steel, 14 x 60 x 3cm
Jim Croke, ‘Freeze’ 2011, steel, 14 x 51 x 5cm
Jim Croke, ‘The Long’ 2011, steel, 14 x 61 x 3cm
Jim Croke, ‘Deco’ 2011, steel, 61 x 14 x 3cm

“Relief sculpture is very different to sculpture in the round. It must sit on the wall and interact with it not simply be a “piece of jewellery” decorating the wall. It must have a undeniable presence in the space while not actually occupying much of it.

A series of sculptures of a similar theme and scale can help each other tell the story of the work.” – Jim Croke, 2011

‘Sculpture 2012′, Closing 11 February

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We are delighted to report that we’ve had an overwhelming response to our first exhibition of the year, Sculpture 2012. So if you haven’t managed to drop by, this is a friendly reminder that there is only a week left as the show closes at 6pm on Saturday February 11. Don’t miss the big green polar bear by Jon Cox or the engaging suspended mirrors by Vanessa Stanley, both big hits with the littlest gallery goers.

Our next exhibitions include a solo exhibition by Lezlie Tilley and a group show featuring major work from our Represented Artists – both shows will be on view from Tuesday February 14.

New in the Stockroom: Jim Croke ‘All Sorts’ & ‘Out of Sorts’

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Left: Jim Croke, ‘All Sorts’ 2011, steel, 11 x 13 x 12cm 

Right: Jim Croke, ‘Out of Sorts’ 2010, steel, 8 x 14 x 14cm 

‘All Sorts’ and ‘Out of Sorts’ display Jim Croke’s ability to create lively sculptures out of heavy materials. When viewed from above, there is an illusionary endless depth to both works, as the blocks are piled on top of each other with little breathing space. Once given a side-view, the cubes seem to bubble above their bases, adding lightness to these dense, compact pieces. Conjuring thoughts of liquorice cubes in its title, ‘All Sorts’ displays a balancing act, as the solid chunks appear to be on the brink of toppling over. Reminiscent of sugar lumps, the blocks in ‘Out of Sorts’ are only just contained by their cubed base. Both sculptures are similar in nature and feel to Croke’s 2009 work ‘Looking at a River but Thinking of the Sea,’ in that they share the same sense of activity and tension. Where the larger work consumes the viewer in it’s jumbled and chaotic appearance, ‘All Sorts’ and ‘Out of Sorts’ are more like compact worlds about to explode.

New in the Stockroom: Jim Croke ‘Graveyard Shift’

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There is rhythm without logic achieved in the seemingly random placement of curved metal objects that make up Jim Croke’s ‘Graveyard Shift’. It is difficult to concentrate on one part of this work, as the scribble of materials sends the eye in all directions. Even the rectangle that frames the tubular shapes can’t contain them, as they burst out and over the edges. This lively piece is full of movement and activity, defying the weighty quality of its steel medium. By allowing the surface behind it to peep through, this wall-mounted sculpture utilizes the palette of the wall behind it, reveals its depth and creates shadows that further animate this work.

Jim Croke, ‘Graveyard Shift’ 2011, steel, 14 x 51 x 5cm

Focus On: Jim Croke

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Jim Croke, ‘Accordion Music’ 2004, steel, 68 x 174 x 10cm

Jim Croke‘s approaches the creation of each sculpture with a “sensitivity to materials, space, weight, light, form, line, shape, volume and mass.” His linear and geometric constructions are composed with a range of materials including steel, wood, iron and found objects. The pieces he finds informs his work with the process of manipulating the objects central to the finished product. Croke is considered a mark maker in both his sculptures and works on canvas.

Jim Croke, ‘Iron Curtain’ 2004, steel, 117 x 320 x 4cm

The 2004 sculpture, ‘Iron Curtain’, illustrates Croke‘s concept of zen work. For the curtain, he meticulously straightened long strips of curled and coiled iron by hand. The discarded objects were reworked by Croke in the most difficult and labour intensive process possible. By straightening the coils, he makes each strip – an off-cut of industralised production – a unique entity as they each bear their straightening marks in a slightly different way.

Left: Jim Croke, ‘All Tip’ 2008, steel, 16 x 19 x 6cm
Right: Jim Croke, ‘Vent’ 2010, iron, steel, 27 x 15 x 5cm