Guy Stuart: Bowls, Vats, Discs and Baffles

This exhibition represents an important moment in Australian art which occurred at the time of the shift of the centre of the international art world from Paris and London to New York. Guy Stuart, along with several other artists, strongly resisted the influence of the non-objective New York School which was so readily taken up by many Australian artists and shown in exhibitions such as the National Gallery of Victoria’s The Field of 1968.

In the wide variety of media with which Stuart experimented between 1967 and 1972 we see a consistent revalidation of the object which took the shape of bowls, vats, discs and baffles. Using these as vehicles for his formal experimentations Stuart developed short series of works which moved through pastel drawings, oil paintings and often eventuated in three dimensional objects. The exhibition brings together works from the artist’s studio, public and private collections and the TarraWarra Museum of Art collection, and includes the large floor sculpture Soft red baffles from the NGA collection. Guy Stuart: Bowls, Vats, Discs and Baffles showcases this exhilarating early period of Stuart’s career and highlights the young artist’s creative diversity.