Dean Bowen – Currawong

It may seem unusual for a professional artist to look for inspiration among the primitive works of the untrained artist, but Dean Bowen admits to being very influenced by outsider art.

His latest exhibition, Currawong, is a collection of around 40 works, mostly oil paintings, and they all display a simplicity and cartoon-like quality that could almost be deemed “naive”.

“They’re very quirky and they’re very graphic… Humour is very important to me. Humour and optimism,” said Bowen. As a case in point, Bowen describes one of the few sculptures in the exhibition. It’s a bronze echidna with a very long snout, and he has called it “Pinochinose”.

Thematically, Bowen’s paintings have a strong sense of the Australian landscape and predominantly feature native animals. The current exhibition includes many paintings of native birds (Bowen randomly chose the title Currawong.) Although they seem humorous and simple, Bowen says there is meaning and depth in his paintings:

“I am drawn to the natural world and there’s also commentary in my work about sustaining the environment and our responsibility to the environment and the welfare of animals as well.”

The works are composed of bold shapes and colours with unrealistic depictions of animals, yet they have a certain sensitivity.

“They have personality and emotion and there’s an overlap with human emotion…” Bowen explained.

The style of his oil paintings and, in particular, the colours and technique he uses in print-making has garnered him a lot of fans in Japan. In fact, he recently celebrated 20 years of exhibiting in a commercial gallery in Kyoto.

Thankfully, local fans will only need to travel as far as Rushcutters Bay to see Currawong. (RB)

Aug 17–Sep 3. Arthouse Gallery, 66 McLachlan Ave, Rushcutters Bay. FREE. Info: www.arthousegallery.com.au or (02) 9332 1019

BY RITA BRATOVICH