The Man Behind

Pictured above: The Man Behind, woodcut, 1991, 46 x 36 cm, one of my relatively early works included in Tall Tales - an exhibition of collected curiosities at Art & Collectors, Melbourne.

The woodcut is from a series of prints and drawings made in the early 1990s that focused on the lives and works of three contemporaneous writers: Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker and, in the case of this work, the lesser known (as an author, at least) Zelda Fitzgerald. Hovering in the background is the shadowy figure of her novelist husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

It is no secret that artists have long sought inspiration from the written word, taking narratives and orated myths and turning them into something visually mesmerising. Inspired by our current exhibition, ‘Tall Tales’, this select curation explores the enduring relationship between storytelling and visual art, proving that a picture can indeed tell a thousand words.

- Art and Collectors

Artists include: Sidney Nolan, Adam Cullen, Salvador Dali, Auguste Blackman, Mirka Mora, George Baldessin, Susan Norrie, Rona Green, Paul Compton, Howard Arkley, Constance Stokes and others. 

The exhibition can be viewed online here: https://artandcollectors.com/collections/tall-tales.

IRREPRESSIBLE: Opening Event

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Featured here are selected highlights from yesterday afternoon’s opening of IRREPRESSIBLE at Whitehorse Artspace. That’s me directly above, alongside my hand-coloured linocut, Everything’s Coming Up Roses.* 

Among those also pictured, in no particular order, are IRREPRESSIBLE artist/curator Rona Green (images 2,3, 9 and 10) and the ever-irrepressible Press Gang, including lead singer and lyricist extraordinaire Jazmina Cininas, (images 5, 6 and 7) with Jim Pavlidis on guitar (images 5, 6 and 8).

Also pictured is Cr Kirsten Langford, Mayor, Whitehorse City Council, who launched the exhibition (image 2, right hand side).

No mere blog post can possibly do justice to an exhibition of this scope, and this one doesn’t even come close. It was great to see so many of the artists there, along with their works, including Clayton Tremlett (image 20) and Kate Gorringe-Smith (image 22; Kate’s work is in the upper left hand corner). Others (several of them old friends) can be spotted in the crowd scenes. 

A highlight, among so many, was seeing Richard Harding’s final work, superbly brought to realisation by Deborah Williams, in the flesh. (Image 21).

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to have been included in numerous Rona Green exhibitions/print exchanges. Invariably, however, it takes awhile to sink in that aside from contributing to the exhibition, I will be also be the proud possessor of a complete set of prints - which now includes all of those in this stunning exhibition. 

Aside from the IRREPRESSIBLE folios distributed to the 53 participating artists, Folio #56/56 will enter the permanent collection of City of Whitehorse.

IRREPRESSIBLE demonstrates the extraordinary range and sophistication of the relief print like no other exhibition I’ve seen. Thank you for having us, Whitehorse Artspace, and also for the impeccable hang. Last, but not least, enormous thanks to Rona Green for coordinating this massive project, and for inviting me to be part of it. 

IRREPRESSIBLE runs to 16 May, 2026.

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Directly below are a series of installation views.

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In addition, my two-colour linocut, Anon, 1998 (images 35 and 36 below) has been included in MIRROR IMAGE: PRINTS FROM WHITEHORSE ART COLLECTION, currently on view in the adjoining All Nations Foyer and running to 2 May. 

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*As previously noted, my IRREPRESSIBLE linocut takes its title from the song standard, Everything’s Coming Up Roses. Its lyric is by the late, great Stephen Sondheim. (Regular visitors to this blog will already be aware that I’m a Sondheim tragic). Coincidentally, today is the ninety-sixth anniversary of the great man’s birth.

IRREPRESSIBLE and the history of Rona Green-helmed print exchanges

The current issue of IMPRINT, quarterly journal of the Print Council of Australia (Autumn 2026, Vol. 61, No. 1), includes an informative, richly illustrated five-page article on Irrepressible, the latest exhibition and print exchange curated by Rona Green opening on Saturday, March 21, at Whitehorse Artspace. 

The article, a Q&A between Marguerite Brown, Curator of Whitehorse Artspace, and Irrepressible Artist/Curator Rona Green, also discusses in considerable detail Rona’s singularly long and distinguished history of facilitating folio exchanges and printmaking exhibitions, both in Australia and overseas. 

Rona Green’s contribution to contemporary print culture in Australia is immeasurable. I’m extremely privileged to have been included in several of her exchange folios and other projects, including Irrepressible.

The article is reproduced here. Click on individual images for an enlarged view. 

 Irrepressible will be launched on Saturday 21 March, 1-3 pm, at Whitehorse Artspace. For further information, go HERE.

Linocuts at the Art Gallery of Ballarat Shop

The Art Gallery of Ballarat has kindly invited me to make available the early editions of the following linocuts (earmarked for a major solo exhibition in 2024) in the Gallery Shop during the run of the exhibition, In the Company of Morris.

As followers of this blog will be aware, my current work draws much of its inspiration from the works of prolific British Arts and Crafts designer and maker, May Morris, daughter of William Morris and Jane Morris and a notable designer for the hugely influential firm, Morris & Co. The tattoos on my anonymous subjects are all based on details from her designs.

The linocuts pictured below were hand-printed in my Ballarat studio. Strictly limited numbers are available for purchase from the Gallery Shop, either in-store or online, HERE until the exhibition concludes on 6 August.

Click on the images to enlarge.

In addition, I will be one of three contemporary artists appearing in the panel discussion Morris and Me, on 15 July at 2 pm. Tickets to the forum include entry to the exhibition and are available HERE.

Image top: Deborah Klein in the Art Gallery of Ballarat shop with linocuts Horn Poppy, 2023 and framed copy of The Heavens Declare #1, 2022 on the wall. My Art Matters earrings were made by the incredible Holly Would from Ballarat-based Femxle Experience Art Rebelion.

Photo credit: Peter Freund.