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Details
- Date
- 2008
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on linen
- Dimensions
- 86.5 x 71.5 cm stretcher; 88.6 x 73.1 x 5.4 cm frame
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Anonymous gift 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
- Location
- South Building, upper level
- Accession number
- 131.2018
- Copyright
- © Moya McKenna
- Artist information
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Moya McKenna
Works in the collection
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About
Moya McKenna's paintings bring a gestural sensibility to the realist tradition of still life. McKenna works from tableaus, which she constructs in her studio using materials immediately at hand. Her earlier compositions pursued a relatively literal mode of translation from sculptural assemblage to painted image. However, this process quickly gave way to a more organic and imaginative response to her sources, as can be seen in 'Milk'. Here, figure and ground are difficult to distinguish, and identifiable subjects - including a pot plant and model elephants - jostle with more ambiguous forms. The work's sense of energy is derived in part from McKenna's wet-on-wet technique: works are completed at pace, without allowing one layer of paint to dry before beginning the next.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Rimbaud / Rambo, Neon Parc, Melbourne, 23 Sep 2008–17 Oct 2008
Matisse Alive, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 11 Oct 2021–03 Apr 2022
Animal Instincts, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 05 Nov 2022–19 Mar 2023