BRETT WHITELEY

Brett Whiteley's inventive and technical skills were prodigious and infectious, drawing the viewer in admiration and pleasure. He was a superb draughtsman, as so clearly seen in this work. Energy flows through the tropical lushness as lines of communication, involving the eye in its delightful harmonies of repetition and rhythmic movement. This is carried over into the figure of the resting bird, whose body and elegantly long bill find echoes in the branches and leaves, in rippling waters, in everything–as spelt out in one of the thought balloons. This technical and compositional interrelationship speaks eloquently of the symbiosis of life, so keenly felt in all Whiteley's art.

Birds had a particular appeal, frequenting his work and often the very subject of a painting, drawing, print or sculpture. Not only did they possess unique beauty and character, their ability to fly symbolised an envied freedom. From the white heron to multi-coloured parrots, lyrebirds, magpies, wrens, kookaburras and the favoured dove, Whiteley painted or drew them, made them in collage, or arresting reality, challenging illusion and the object – the bird, the nest, the eggs, the branch. In the beautifully relaxed Everything, Whiteley challenges sensibilities by making the bird in collage, while, curiously, its 'thoughts' are painted.