Nancy Whittaker, Cascade Arts, Tarrangower Times
Cascade Art Gallery reopened after a winter hiatus on Thursday 5 September with a beautiful exhibition of David Moore’s 51 paintings of sky, landscape and domestic objects. There is an official Opening at 2pm, on Saturday 7 September. The Exhibition will be opened by well-known local arts identity Simon Dow, Choreographer, Creative Director, Performance Artist, Fine Art Photographer, renowned ballet dancer, and so much more. AND MANet’s Portrait Prize for 2025 will be launched. The 2025 prize will be the fifth Maldon Portrait Prize presented by the Maldon Artist Network.
All artists who have lived or are living and/or working in Australia are eligible to enter. Maldon has a deep and rich tradition of supporting, presenting and celebrating the Visual Arts. Maldon Artist Network has previously collaborated with the contemporary EDGE Galleries and now with the established Cascade Art Gallery, Maldon’s Fine Art Treasure.
The Maldon Portrait Prize is generously sponsored by the Hilary Merkus Recordati Foundation (HMR Foundation) an arts foundation established in Italy in 2021.
This is the third time David has exhibited at Cascade. The last exhibition of his work was two years ago, and I had a sneak peek at the latest one recently. David’s skill in evoking mood and atmosphere from such mundane things as trees, roads, and especially clouds would make any collector lust after them. Then there are the still-life paintings of ordinary objects made extraordinary, as well as the delicate delight and subtle colours of his Tutu series. They are not all white when you look closely.
Looking at David’s paintings of moody landscapes and amazing cloud formations is a very calming activity. His skill with brushwork is a foregone conclusion and can best be described as painterly. Just look carefully at the brushwork in Faraday Evening in the dry grass and cloud heavy sky. Or the Still Life Arrangement 7 where the skilled brushwork on the objects transforms basic shapes into a thing of beauty, combined with his clever use of tone and contrast to evoke three dimensions.
Starting at an early age David learned to paint under the guidance of his father and mentored by Sir William Dargie CBE and Harley Griffiths, who was responsible for restoration at the NGV.
David’s chosen medium is oil on linen of which he says, “My still life oil paintings reflect my search for space and stillness. The arrangements of flowers and objects in my work are collected from my daily surroundings: some from our garden, others gifted or collected during sanctioned raids on the gardens of friends, or from within my eclectic assortment of op shop objects and contemporary handmade ceramics. My focus on still life began when my children were young, and I was surrounded by the domestic. I found taking moments of quiet contemplation to arrange and paint my subjects help me to move though the noise of family life. My paintings offer endless moments of quiet and calm.”
His landscape paintings, to quote Cascade Art Gallery Director Kareen Anchen, “have the capacity to connect viewers with ‘the senses’ – to hear the cicadas, feel the warmth of the sun, smell the air, touch the tree branches.”
So do yourself a favour and come to the opening of his new landscapes and still life paintings as well as the exquisite tutus, at 2pm on Saturday 7 September.
For further information or to request an exhibition catalogue prior to the opening – Phone 0408 844 152 or email info@cascadeart.com.au.
See all the photos in the issue.
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 6 September 2024.
