13. Geoff Thornley (b. 1942)
Dyad Series
Acrylic on wood construction
112.5 x 107.5 cm
Signed, inscribed & dated 1986 verso
est. $10,000 - 15,000
Fetched $7,000
Relative Size: Dyad Series
Relative size

In this work, artist Geoff Thornley contrasts the pictorial and material aspects of the work. The small rectangles are cut into the pinky-orange substrate which provides the field of colour for the work. Like elements in a terrazzo floor, these bright geometric shapes activate the surface, enlivening it with jazzy patterns. Four darker green diamonds at the centre are complemented by blocks of red, arranged like the points of a kite on the diagonal across the work. Two lighter green rectangles counter this on the opposing diagonal access, matched by a smaller black rectangle and larger white square. Thornley makes us aware of the chromatic visual effects, where certain colours enhance each other when placed in proximity, and how light colours appear to advance forward while darker colours recede. The dynamism of this work with its asymmetry, disjunctions of hue and unlikely puce background make it an exceptional example of Thornley's work from this era. The feeling in this painting is lively and joyous.

Additionally, issues of compression and expansion as well as scale are being explored here. As the artist himself said in an interview with William McAloon for the catalogue to accompany the exhibition of his constructions from 1972-1982 at the Gus Fisher Gallery in 2007 - Each work is a link in the chain of discovery.

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