Nymphéas
10/02 - 21/02/2010
WED - SUN 12-6pm

Curated by Ben Gavin
general store contemporary 
15 Randle St. Surry Hills

Nymphéas are known as water lilies, a flower floating upon the water 
surface in a garden pond. Inspired by traditional Japanese gardens, Monet 
abandoned the Parisian bohemian lifestyle for his version of utopia in 
the magnificent gardens of Giverny, France in which he led his reclusive 
life. These years became the painters most poetic and innovative period.

For Monet, Nympheas captured the extended horizons and landscape which 
emerged on the water surface, many of which were too wide for the eye 
to acknowledge in a single glance. Monet would exclusively concentrate 
and render the water covered flowers on the surface of the pond several 
times on separate canvas, in almost identical versions avoiding any 
depiction of the banks surrounding the pond. The impression of light, 
the water and time of day determined the outcome of different tonalities 
of colour Monet painted on each canvas. The results were timeless, 
emotive, sublime and luminous.

From the brushstroke to the pixel; partially abstraction and luminescence, 
the group exhibition entitled 'Nymphéas' featuring Sydney based artists 
Paul Greedy and Another Artist, French artists Antoine Aguila and Thomas 
Guichard invites you into a world that contemplates light as one of the 
most fundamental and essential elements in art.
Focusing on digital, optical and meditative landscapes in the moment of 
poetic reflection, the artist reveals the simplicity of form, revisits the 
elegance of light and displays the beauty of colour and tone in the manner 
of Monet's Nymphéas.

Opening reception 6-8pm 09/02/2010 
Special performance by Thomas Guichard at the opening reception 8-9pm





image: installation view 
Cathodique Canvas 2010 (left) and Red Light River 2010, by Antoine Aguilar 
Photography: Ben Gavin