Marian Drew

Marian Drew was born in Australia in 1960 and studied visual art at Canberra School of Art from 1980 -1984. Drew studied in Germany, Experimental Photography, Kassel University, post graduate studies 1984-1985 and has been Senior Lecturer, Photography Art Practice , at the Queensland College of Art from 1986 to current.From 1983 to 2007 Marian Drew has held twenty one solo exhibitions in Australia, the United States, France and Germany.She represented Australia in the First Asia Pacific Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery.Drew's work is housed in major public collections such as: National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, South Australian Art gallery and numerous other major photographic collections in Australia.The first monograph "Marian Drew Photographs and Video Works", was published by the Queensland Center for Photography, in 2006. She has held group exhibitions in China, Germany, the United States and over forty curatorial shows in Australia between 1985 -2007.Completed several major public art commissions in Australia for permanent architectural art works in public buildings 1998-2007. Nominated as one of Australia's fifty most collectable artists in Australian Art Collector magazine, 2006 Artist Statement "Every living Thing""In 2002, I travelled to Germany, where I studied the still life paintings in museums and in particular an extensive collection at Wilhelmshoehe, in the city of Kassel. On my return home these ideas united with the imagery of the animals I saw killed on roads in Australia. in the course of daily life these native animals are killed by cars, domestic pets or power lines and are easily found scattered beside the roads through our urban environments. This new perspective made me question our existing relationship to wild animals, the wealthy landowners in Renaissance Europe believed that the abundance of nature was there for human consumption. I found correlations to these ideas whithin the local attitudes to wildlife that are killed in the drive for urban expansion and economic growth. By imitating the historic painted forms of the 'Still Life', but replacing paint with photographic verisimilitude, and familiar European animals with Australian native species, a discord is exposed.This work aims to overlay the historical and the present, the European with the antipodean and photography with painting, while exploring contemporary notions of death and a changing relationship to animals."

Exhibitions

All that remains - 2010

All that remains, is a new body of work that encorporates fallen Australian birdlife into hand-stiched tablecloths to reveal a new relationship between our urban and domestic lives and the cohabitating animal species

Marian Drew - The decorative wood pigeon

Marian Drew - Pair of self Portraits with birds

Birds - 2009

For her 2009 show, Marian has collected Australian embroidery cloth and wildlife. The embroidered cloths are selected for their varying references to past Australian periods, some are extremely delicate and beautiful, others 'well to do' linen to working class tea towels. Marian takes her 'finds' back to the studio where she creates sensitive still life settings. The final works are large scale, larger than life crisp digital images printed on German etching paper with archival pigments. The paper and light evoking associations of European painting and prints, but the photographic record, marks a specific event from contemporary 'reality'. As with her work from 2006, Marian hopes to draw attention to the value and beauty of these animals and acknowledge the relationship these animals have to our present lives.

Marian Drew - Kingfisher with Chinese cloth and strawberries

Marian Drew - Rose crowned fruit dove with fancywork

Marian Drew - Rainbow Lorikeet on Queensland needlwork

Illuminated Landscapes - 2008

Illuminated Landscapes is an exhibition of photographs that graph the light trajectories of human scale and duration in the landscape. Drawing and photography, meet in the open air, a sketch of the hand with the process of camera obscura, working in concert to explore landscape as an exchange between culturally constructed ideas and the apparatus of perception . Using two identical medium format film cameras I photograph a landscape by moving the cameras on an axis following the horizon or visual conduit of the landscape. This super slow motion pan, films the action or event over several still frames and allows enough time for the photographer to abandon the camera, enter the landscape and immerse oneself, often literally, in the landscape during exposure. When one is in the landscape acting in this way one cannot see the landscape as a panorama in the distance. The image is formed as part of an exchange that occurs within the landscape and within the camera. To make these photographs the body acts like a thread that sews drawing/ to landscape /to film. The film is then scanned and images joined using digital processes and printed onto large sheets of archival paper. Although the length of the final prints is determined during post-production, the form is shaped by duration of exposure and interaction. In making this work, I start to learn about the landscape through the use of my own body. Marian Drew

Marian Drew - The Creek that Leads to the Sea

Marian Drew - Illuminated Landscape Installation

Art Fair - 2006

This work is a re contextualization of Australian wildlife within the context of the European still life. It presents wildlife that becomes dislocated from the idealized view of animals in their natural habitat. The long lens of the 'wild life photographer' is replaced by the close up lens, painted light and the table top. The historical framework of the European 'food still life', the familiar rituals of table preparation and the warm painterly caress of applied light lulls the viewer closer as they recognize a familiar mythology. This work aims to reveal a new relationship between our own urban and domestic lives and the cohabitating animal species. These animals are clearly 'consumed' or sacrificed within the context of our own progress and technological development. In recent years study trips to Germany have provided a new framework in which to see the 'roadkill' animals of Australia. The European still life of the 17th and 18th century celebrated the 'fruits' of the land existing for 'mans' consumption. These photographic prints present the animals as larger than life crisp digital images printed on German etching paper with archival pigments. The paper and light evoking associations of European painting and prints, but the photographic record, marks a specific event from contemporary 'reality'. These animals are familiar nationalist icons but within the context of our increasing domestic consumption they are a part of the attrition that result from a loss of habitat and dangerous environmental factors like roads and power lines. This work hopes to draw attention to the value and beauty of these animals and acknowledge the relationship these animals have to our present lives.

Marian Drew - Wombat with Watermelon and Plate

Marian Drew - Tasmanian Rosella with serviette

This site requires Flash 9. If you are seeing this, you'll need to update your player before entering.
Click here to update.