JOHN MADSEN

‘In my twilight years, I still marvel at the world around me: the vastness of the sea and sky contrasted with small delights, the interplay of light. I am in awe of Rembrandt’s use of light and shade, and touched by Morandi’s etchings of groups of simple everyday objects.’

John Madsen is an Australian artist, based in Melbourne who explores the medium of printmaking through linocuts, collagraphs, and in his favourite medium copper etching. After drawing, sketching and painting watercolours intermittently since the mid-1960s, he studied printmaking later in life. He became fascinated with the alchemy of copper plate etching processes and experiments with aquatints and hand-colouring prints, which give layers and a sense of movement to the prints.

The prints reflect a creative life of making and handling materials. John has lived most of his life near the sea on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, and for him the sea is contemplative space of light and movement and the idea of being elsewhere. His land, sea and cityscapes represent the places he is fascinated with and had felt connection to in Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, as well as Britain, Spain, Italy and Denmark.

He is interested in urban and landscape spaces and the relationship of figures to the built environment and is drawn to the work of L.S. Lowry. The sense of time and the seasons is shown in the still life pieces about food and the space of a table show his fascination with Giorgio Morandi’s contemplative still life paintings. His illustrations of figures feature quirky stories and human fallibility observed from real life. Throughout his work there is a capacity to be engaged in his surroundings and to be fascinated with and take great pleasure in the world.

The repeating motifs and themes in John Madsen’s work fall into five main areas

1) Sea, the seashore, boats

2) Architecture, structures, built environment

3) Still life, everyday, food

4) Landscape, outback

5) Performance spaces, commedia del arte, figurative illustration