About the Exhibition

The Colour and Response Tour and Exhibition Project was developed following the success of Moriarty’s retrospective exhibition Colour: Mervyn Moriarty, A Retrospective Exhibition which was held in Brisbane in 2016 to commemorate Flying Arts Alliance’s 45th Anniversary.

Colour II: Merv Moriarty in the Field is the touring exhibition component of that project. At each gallery on the tour schedule, there will be a locally curated exhibition responding to Moriarty’s touring works and the impact of his art teaching.

Artworks from this show are available for sale. Enquire to Purchase

Gallery of Works

Artist Statement

Over a lifetime of drawing, painting and modeling in clay, I have worked from life – figure or landscape. I have also worked from studies made in the field or studio, that have been reconsidered and, to a lesser or greater extent, simplified or abstracted. I love many of these more developed works, and would not want to change them in any way.

As I commenced working on this exhibition, when looking over my studies in the field I could see that these demanded to be considered in their own right, as they are, including blown sand in the paint.

I can only trust that the effort has been worth it, and hope that I have done this visually exciting and beautiful place justice.

On working in the field

I am walking down the beach toward the rocks at the base of Bournda Headland.  I have my outdoor painting equipment, palette, paints, water, brushes, portable easel and stool, plus a fresh canvas with me.  It is quite a long beach.  I am going to sit on my carry-stool close to the canvas I have fastened to my easel on (and partly into) the sand and paint what I see in the rectangular area I have chosen. I know that I can trust this structure for if I have seen its form truly, the painting will be in balance and maybe it will sing.

The directional (force) lines that underpin the subject form a perfect and pleasing structure.  The shapes of objects, areas, spaces and colour all interconnect and are in harmony.  I need not, and I feel should not, impose any preconceptions about composition on the image I am putting on the canvas, nor should I let myself drift into copying (as in a photograph) – that would be deadly. Of course, it goes without saying, I never take a camera with me when I go out to paint. I can only trust my selection of subject area and what nature herself is giving me.

Every way I look from where I am, there is a beauty that is, I believe, a form of truth one can’t deny. I know that I can trust the form and colour that is in the subject.

– Merv Moriarty, 2018

This project has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through the Arts Queensland Playing Queensland Fund.