Criss Canning

Australian artist Criss Canning has once again captured my attention, so here is the 2nd blog post on her work. The first here was back in August. The compositions in her work are deliberately simple, giving them the quality of a Japanese print, especially with her use of flat colour in large areas contrasting with the detail of the seed pods and flowers. I especially love her use of reflection and light/shadow which add depth to the works.

Here's the blurb from Metro Gallery:

Criss Canning, born in Melbourne 1947, is one of Australia's leading still life artists. Her rich strong paintings are unmistakably her own. Incredibly accomplished technically her work is sumptuous in colour, complex in design and sensuous in effect. Canning's paintings repay careful and repeated viewing. Each brushstroke is lovingly and lusciously applied. The objects in her work, the flowers, ceramics, trays and fabrics are arranged and rearranged until a wonderful balance and harmony is achieved. Only then does Canning put paint to canvas. In her next show, at Metro 5 Gallery, Canning's love of colour has taken another leap in these exciting new paintings.

A 2007 major retrospective of Criss Canning's work at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery broke all records with 22,700 visitors to the exhibition. The retrospective moved to the Mornington Peninsula regional Art Gallery where again there was a terrific response.

David Thomas's lavishly illustrated and beautifully written 2007 monograph "Criss Canning- The Pursuit of Beauty" published by Macmillan Art Publishing, sold out within a few months of its release. A second revised edition will be published this year and is to be launched at Canning's exhibiton opening at Metro 5 Gallery on the 12th of November 2008.

Criss Canning is represented at the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and the Castlemaine Art Gallery. Canning's work can be found in collections in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, USA, Indonesia, Singapore and New Zealand.

Wild Iris from Albania 2008 oil on canvas

Tulips with Stripes 2008 oil on cedar panel

Still life

Starry Starry Night 2008 oil on canvas

Shades of Red #2 2008 oil on canvas

Red Still Life with Oriental Poppy 2008 oil on canvas

Pink Poppies

Gumnuts

Anemones 2007 oil on canvas

images with thanks from Metro Gallery, Art Equity, Ask Art, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery