Geoffrey Odgers
Stoic Permanence/Spiritual Joy
18 - 29 Oct 2023
G1
Opening Night
Friday 20 Oct | 6 - 8pm
◼︎
Geoffrey Odgers’ series ‘Stoic Permanence/Spiritual Joy’ entwines his
identity both objectively through his Cornish ancestry, and subjectively
through his creative practice seeking the essence of identity through
serial development of motif.
Odgers’ paintings work on several layers of meaning and intent, the initial
“wow” moment of inspiration, the deep analysing through photos,
photocopies, drawings and painted studies of the chosen motif and the
highly personal aesthetic ideology and art theory he applies to his work.
His entire creative oeuvre has been about the formal making of work
without narrative and sentiment. Odgers states he seeks the elegant
repose of Morandi’s composition, the found imagery of Schwitters and the
sheer exuberance of Kokoschka as the primary drivers in his work.
Odgers repeatedly returns to the stoic qualities and permanence of the
volcanic rocks at Tuross Head beaches where he lives as the metaphor
for his stoic belief in creative positivity and his persistent striving against
self doubt and rejection.
This ideology is at the heart of his belief in Art for social change, helping
to overcome depression and isolation, and the struggle for acceptance.
Characteristics many people face and can seem insurmountable.
Odgers intention with this series ‘Stoic Permanence/Spiritual Joy’ is to
demonstrate how the artist’s singular gaze can demonstrate the wonder,
presence, essence of our natural environment and how this can be
distilled down to the very essence of existence.
In recent years Odgers has begun using drawing as an independent
activity, as a distinct exploratory practice to understand the essence of the
motif attempting to find adjectives amongst the marks and gestures,
increasing his handwriting as an intellectual engagement to image
making. This reliance on drawing also helps to develop the language he
feels needed to begin the long exploration from thought to the essence of
his motif.
Artist Bio
Geoffrey Odgers was Born in 1948 in Bacchus Marsh Victoria.
Odgers is self-taught and studied Letterpress Printing and Graphic Art as a creative outlet pre-Whitlam free tertiary study.
His art practice began its genesis with the vivid, colourful Illuminations in his Family Bible and the wildly exuberant Uccello’s “The Battle of San Romano”, with lances toppling and dancing throughout the composition. Odgers was 6 or 7 years old at the time and realised then his vocation.
Odgers was immersed in the landscape for a decade living in PNG as a young artist in the 70s and, since 2014, living on the South Coast of NSW. His reaction to the 2020 Bushfires inspired a renewed vision and return to landscape as the driver for creative images.
His influences as a late teen were the assemblages of Schwitters and Tatlin and the frottage of Ernst. Two Decades of American Painting completed his foundation in the principles and aesthetics of modern art practices.
Odgers has featured in 14 Solo Exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide and 42 Juried Group Exhibitions.
He was chosen as one of 25 International Artists to be published in the book Omnia Vincit Amor by the Italian Collagists Collective 2022. His collage “Concord” was a response to Empathy and how it relates to mental health.
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
