Lesley Dumbrell
(Australia 14 Oct 1941– )
- Title
- Spangle
- Year
- 1977
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- synthetic polymer paint on canvas
- Dimensions
-
149.0 x 210.0cm stretcher; 153.0 x 214.0 x 2.6cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated centre stretcher member, green marker "...1977/ L. DUMBRELL..." and verso, red oil "L. Dumbrell. 1977/...".
- Credit
- Purchased 1979
- Accession number
- 2.1979
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
Following a strong, figurative training at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Lesley Dumbrell began teaching there in 1966, and met the American colour-field painter, James Doolin. Through Doolin she was introduced to the new medium of acrylic paint. During this period, Dumbrell also began her investigations into the work of Bridget Riley and Raphael de Soto, key members of the international Op Art movement of the 1960s.
In 'Spangle', Dumbrell incorporates the retinal effects of Op Art – the dazzle and afterimages produced by geometric pattern and contrasting colour. The surface is criss-crossed with lines of varying but standard lengths, laid out with mathematical precision to create difficult but decipherable rhythms and a near-moiré dazzle from the intersection of the angled grids of dots and dashes – a chromatic ‘Morse code’.
- Bibliography (2)
-
Anthony Bond (England; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Wayne Tunnicliffe (New Zealand; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 2006, 30, 31 (colour illus.).
Project 41 - the mosaic, the grid, Sydney, 1983. cat.no. 17
- Exhibition history (4)
-
Project 41: The mosaic -The grid (1983), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Mar 1983–24 Apr 1983.
Review - works by women from the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Mar 1995–04 Jun 1995.
Hard Edge, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 07 Aug 1999–24 Oct 1999.
Australian abstraction 1965-1985: from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 09 Dec 2006–25 Jan 2007.
