so don’t miss the last weekend of RJROC’s fantastic show! We’re ‘at home’ from 11 to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday.

And we admire works which recognise their antecedents in a way that enhances both sets of experience: see #9 Untitled after Tony Woods, 2009 (Synthetic polymers, acrylic and glitter on canvas, 505 x 505).

Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor has been busy on two fronts: see this invitation to a group show, plus her review of Bernard Smith’s new book The Formalesque, in the latest Art Monthly Australia, which you should buy to read the rest of her review…

yourself over to Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor’s “Glitter Eyes” at ArtWranglers all this week. We’re “at home” all Saturday (11.00 to 5.00) and by appointment afterwards…

[Kali Skies 2007, synthetic polymers, acrylic paint, imitation gold leaf, glitter scatters, glitter glue and foil scatters on canvas, 94 x 124cm]

ArtWranglers presents “Glitter Eyes” an exhibition of twelve of RJROC’s paintings produced since 2005. The exhibition opens on Friday 9th November, and we are “at home” for visitors from 11.00am until 5.00pm on Saturday 10th November, and by appointment for the following week.

This two-year series came about as a consequence of Rachel’s discovery of hyper-materials in the world of craft shops: glitter paint, glow-in-the dark paint, false gold leaf, gold glitter scatters and transparent medium. In the works in this show Rachel explores and returns to a number of different pictorial motifs: orphic rondels, narrative and synthetic landscapes, and non-objective studies where the micro-optics of the glitter and reflective media take over. With the later works she became interested in the natural “glitter” effects of phosphenes – those non-optical visual effects you see with your eyes closed, or when your brain’s misbehaving.

The special effects of RJROC’s works are deliberately excessive: their affect makes melodramatic demands on the viewer, who is compelled to look again and again. The deep media piles of reflective and fluorescent materials intrude on both the viewer’s physical and visual space(s). Add to this the spatial illusionism of the forms of the paintings and the high-key colours of the works and you find the artist has created a kind of inside-out perspective. The qualities of colour and reflectivity of these pictures, combined with moire effects and illusions of dynamism, brings deep space towards you in a way that brings on the phosphenes, even with eyes wide open. If narrative is implied in some of the forms and spatial structures, as if something has just happened, as if a space has opened before you, it’s also the narrative of the viewer’s experience.

Please email Willa if you would like a list of works available and prices.

You can see all the works in the exhibition (and more) by going to the Gallery link at Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor in the side-bar ->

At the closing ceremony for Trouble, Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor and Erica Seccombe are wearing each other’s chest objects: a knitted Aliens scarf, and a plastic bead necklace. The significance of this exchange is magnified by a recent post from the recent NGA party… perhaps there’s a category emerging here?

Other moments included Head of School Gordon Bull, launching (closing), in front of the dinosaur.

For your diaries: ArtWranglers next “at home” exhibition will be glitter paintings by Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor, on Friday 9th November. This one, Phosphene Dream 2005, (synthetic polymers, acrylic paint, imitation gold leaf, glitter glue and foils scatters, 102 x 102 cm) will be in the show.

In case you didn’t know, a phosphene is an entoptic phenomenon characterized by the sensation of seeing light. Phosphenes are caused by mechanical, electrical, or magnetic stimulation of the retina or visual cortex as well as random firing of cells in the visual system. Who says Wikipedia isn’t useful?