From Sharne Wolff…
Readers of The Art Life are more likely to be familiar with Noah Taylor through one of almost 40 movie roles as an actor than in his current outing as a visual artist. Although he’s been making art all his life in a variety of mediums, New Works at Tim Olsen Gallery is Taylor’s first solo exhibition, a ‘huge thrill’ and one he hopes will be a liberating experience. The exhibition comprises a number of bold monochrome works of ink on paper, all with human figures as their subject. These simple drawings are eye-catching for their raw, childlike appearance and air of naivety. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Taylor is a fan of comics and their ability to tell stories in an uncomplicated manner, with few words.
Thirty years of acting experience have seen Taylor bring many different characters to life and afforded him the ability to analyse and express human behaviour. He’s played everyone from the awkward adolescent, Danny, in The Year My Voice Broke to Adolf Hitler in Max. Taylor finds there’s a link between his acting and his visual art. The works in this show are ostensibly unsophisticated, but with just a few strong black strokes, Taylor develops a lasting effect in his characters and makes work that is both fresh and intriguing.
Until February 17, 2012
Tim Olsen Gallery, Woollahra.
PIC: Noah Taylor, Untitled 2012, ink on paper 50 x 65cm. Courtesy the artist and Tim Olsen Gallery.
