C- Block: Drawings by Catherine O’Donnell

Catherine O’Donnell showcases exquisite charcoal drawings exploring the ‘institutionalised’ modernism of Nepean High School’s architecture. The building sites that O’Donnell selects would not be described as beautiful however the artworks that she creates are superlative. The viewer cannot help but be inspired by the mundane urban landscapes transformation.

In discussing her work O’Donnell states The realism in my work is not intended to be simply a reproduction of the visible, as I am interested in more than merely mimetic representation per se, rather, image and imagination, representation and aesthetic construction are all important parts of my final images. The artworks are not replicated like a photograph instead O’Donnell shifts the perspective providing a contemporary spin on the structural streetscapes.

The charcoal drawings are devoid of people, the buildings uninhabited however there is clear evidence of humanity. The viewer can take on the role of voyeur, searching to find a person perhaps peaking behind the curtain, but to no avail. O’Donnell states I change things, do whatever the drawing will need so that people can see them with fresh eyes and bring their own story into that work. The artist has omitted the narrative; the story is left to be formed by you the visitor.

Charcoal is notably one of the oldest art materials it was, after all, what our pre-historic ancestors used while drawing on cave walls. Perhaps due to history and its black and white form charcoal has traditional and pure connotations. What O’Donnell delivers are contemporary, technical, detailed and tactile drawings where the hand of the artist is evident within the work.

O’Donnell expresses what I really love is to examine the urban aesthetics that shape and inform our lives every day and then distil and re-present them through my drawing practice. My drawings are an invitation to the viewer to look beyond the mundane and banal and to revisit urban spaces imaginatively and find the underlying, transcendent and timeless beauty.

Catherine O’Donnell is an artist of national and international reputation, in 2010 she was awarded Highly Commended in the Sunshine Coast Art Prize and the judge John McDonald also The Sydney Morning Herald Art Critic stated Few will fail to be impressed by the artist’s painstaking mastery of charcoal, and her careful delineation of a piece of urban geometry that would make even Jeffrey Smart think twice. The most recent accolades were presented at The City of Hobart Art Prize, 2011, Tasmania – with a Highly Commended award.

C – Block: Drawings by Catherine O’Donnell
6 August – 2 October at Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest.

Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest
86 River Road Emu Plains NSW 2750
p 02 4735 1100