Grace Crowley and Ralph Balson at the NGV
BY SAMANTHA BRERETON
What’s the point of abstract art?
I have been an artist my whole life. I’ve been holding a paintbrush since I was 2, maybe younger. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. But there was always one form of art I never understood and outright avoided. That form is abstract art. I didn’t get it. What creative process or allegorical meaning could be behind a bunch of shapes and colours? Next to magnificent sculptures by Michelangelo and portraits by John Singer Sargent, I had always found abstract art underwhelming and quite frankly, boring.
It wasn’t until my art practice started to lead me toward abstraction did I begin to understand its importance. I tried for a long time to stop myself from making loose, non-representational, “nonsense art” because I believed there was no real value in it. Until I found myself enjoying the process more than the result. This is when I decided to attend my first exhibition focusing on the abstract.
Grace Crowley and Ralph Balson share one of the most influential collections of work in Australian history. The two Australian-born artists met in early 1920 and cultivated a close relationship, they became painting partners until Balson’s passing in 1964. The NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) hosted an exhibition celebrating the artists' individual and collaborative work from May 23rd to September 22nd. I had the privilege of attending the exhibition during the quiet hours of its last weekend and found myself completely lost in Crowley and Balson’s work.
When I first walked into the exhibition I was immediately drawn in by the vivid colours and unusual compositions. Many of Crowley and Balson’s pieces were exhibited side by side, which made the experience seem uncanny and surreal. I found that many of Crowley’s early works held the abstract characteristics that would develop as her practice continued. She studied the arts in Paris with cubist artists like André Lhote and Albert Gleizes, between 1926 and 1929. Guided by their teaching, Crowley began incorporating mathematical methods into her works, such as using the golden ratio to create her compositions.
It was bizarre to me, that such different areas of interest collided. But there I stood, completely amazed by her painting "Sailors and Models" (1928), which illustrated Crowley’s use of the golden ratio perfectly. Staring at the gestural marks that made up the figures and the loose forms of the background, I reconsidered my initial rejection of abstract art and opened to curiosity. I stepped into a larger open spaced room that housed Balson’s works. It was clear that oil painting was his preferred medium, but I also discovered that Balson enjoyed using colour pastels to create scribbly marks. The works often comprised busy shapes that overlapped each other, filling the entire space and creating a sense of noise and urgency. Despite this, the room felt harmonious, and I understood it was a response to its time.
I was surprised to learn that Balson didn't start painting until his late 30s and painted from his interest and knowledge of contemporary scientific and philosophical principles. Like Crowley's interest in using mathematical rules in her art, Balson was also influenced by the Russian Constructivism movement, which took place from 1915 to 1930. His work began to see a reduced number of shapes and layering which reflected the simplistic forms and features of the art movement.
But during Balson’s retirement, his art began to take on a more expressionistic style, heavily influenced by his love of reading. "I want my forms and colours to have the same density and at
the same time the fluidity of [James] Joyce's words." This is where more of his pastel scribbles developed and I could feel the simple joy Balson had when he was creating, enjoying the process.
By the end of the exhibition, abstraction began to take on a different meaning entirely, I no longer considered it half-thought-out and boring. Although abstract art did not have a good reputation during Crowley and Balson’s time, it’s clear that the two paved the way for many and are often turned to by aspiring and seasoned artists. I had felt something shift in my response to how I looked at art as if all the art rules around me had changed its meaning. Before I knew it, I had discovered a newfound inspiration to push the boundaries of the creative process like Crowley and Balson.
