The Art Journal
Art Palm Beach 2020
A short film on Art Palm Beach, Florida, USA 2020, its 23rd year of art exhibitions highlighting Ralph Kerle's art. The forerunner of Art Miami, Art Palm Beach's new Director and Co-Owner Corey Hampson talks about the 2020 fair and his plans for the future of this famous art fair.
Learn more
Auctioning Burning Outback for Bushfire Relief Funds
Burning Outback Artist’s Proof 1 Like many others, I want to make a contribution to show my gratitude for the extraordinary work and bravery shown by Australia's volunteer firefighters and to those affected by the catastrophe upon us. I have created a new piece "Burning Outback" as a reflection on these events and am offering the signed, original number 1 artist's proof, a Giclee print 110 x 75cm in an on-line auction with the funds raised from the auction to go directly to the Trustee for NSW Rural Fire Service & Brigades Donations Fund for distribution in accordance with their priorities and needs. As someone who is interest in my work, I thought you might like to participate in this on-line auction with the potential of owning the highly valued number 1 artists's proof of this new work whilst contributing to and assisting those Australians so badly affected by these events. A story of kindness to go with the artwork! The artwork will be featured in my upcoming Art Palm Beach Florida USA exhibition from January 28 through February 3 2020. The most successful bidder will be announced on February 10, 2019 and I will cover freight costs to anyone in the world.
Learn more
Louis Vuitton commissions Ralph Kerle
Delighted to receive an email in October 2019 from Evelyne Baeten, Director, Visual Merchandising, Oceania Louis Vuitton to say the visual merchandising team had viewed my web site and would like to commission some artworks from me to theme their new outlets in David Jones new Australian flagship high end retail store. View this short film to see the outcome.
Learn more
Reflections on the making of The Art of Navy
My new exhibition, the Art of Navy, running at the Australian National Maritime Museum from Oct 3 – 30 has allowed me to explore totally new concepts and outputs in my art practice. The full story behind the genesis of the exhibition is told in a new film, the Making of the Art of Navy that is showing as part of the exhibition and can be viewed here. The usual output for my artwork is a limited edition print on a fine art paper, known as Giclee paper, a form of paper that had its manufacturing roots in the 15th century. The porous quality of the paper when used with water based ink jet printers enables the final artwork to look very much like a watercolour painting. Given my practice is based around light and water, this process of printing best represented the creative intention behind the making of my art to date. The Art of Navy commission gave me the opportunity to create very large scale works. This came with its own constraints. The Giclee paper printing options are limited in width to 1.6 meters high and traditional picture framing methods on works of this size can be complicated. So what other print output options for six large scale 2.4metre x 1.6 metre artworks might support works of this size and how might that change my conceptual thinking behind the works . I began exploring the world of digital reproduction as fine art work. Options included using a heat transference process sublimating the image into metal. Again size constraints precluded that option. So the choice was based around the last option available – printing directly onto a large scale acrylic panel cut to size. This printing process involves four layers of colour being instantaneously applied to the panel. The first layer prints the full colour image directly onto the acrylic, the second layer is a coat of white printed over the full colour image to ensure light diffusion off the surface, the third layer is a repeat of the original colour image onto the coat of white and the fourth and final layer is another layer of white to ensure the full dynamic colour range in the artwork resolves. A light box with LEDs was specially designed and built to back light each artwork exposing its translucent qualities. Finally, black metal frames were constructed to hold the acrylic panels in the light boxes. In this way, the basis of the artwork became more than a still image on paper or canvas with a frame. It transformed into a contemporary sculptured artwork. Slowly but surely as I viewed the completed artworks several times the difference in the fabrication method – the acrylic pane, the digital printing, the light box and its lighting system - revealed a significant change in my perception of the work. Suddenly, the work was no longer a painterly impression. It was as close to the actual water with the reflection on it hanging on the gallery wall! This is a very exciting breakthrough for me. What if I could create a whole floor of these artworks on which viewers could walk and experience spatially the actual moment of capture of the artwork!
Learn more
The Opening of the Art of Navy Exhibition
I was absolutely honoured to have the Chief of Navy open the Art of Navy exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum to-day The people I have to thank for this wonderful project and not necessarily in this order are Rear Admiral Mark Hammond who had a hunch; Malcolm Moir, a long time friend and Head of Foundation and Development, Australian National Maritime Museum; Alexandra Gaffikin, Head of Design and Interpretation who smiled when I showed her the original works and told me the reason - "not at all what I was expecting and I love it..." An absolute delight to work with Alex. The Navy team who were given responsibility for the delivery of the project - Captain Charlie Stephenson and especially Commander Natasha Burney. Neither Charlie nor Natasha had previously worked in the arts or with an artist and yes, we had some difficult discussions. However I couldn't have asked for better support in the end. I learnt much about Navy personnel that has changed my mind about those who enter the defence forces and serve our nation. And last but most importantly the great creative team I worked with and who now will receive the accolades they deserve. Poet Andy Singh who gave me the narrative for the works; filmmaker Larry Meltzer who made a superb 8 minute film the Making of the Art of Navy that is accompanying the exhibition; Graham Maslen and Steven Smedley book publisher and graphic designer respectively, Dr Gary Willisn who wrote an erudite critical essay on the work and its themes. Donald Robertson, book editor who was late for the opening and thus missed all the photo opportunities whilst making a huge difference to the book content. At least we made the book deadline, Donald Robertson! Stefan Kahn, exhibition design and last and most importantly, the artwork fabricators, Flash Graphics and in particular owner, Fredrik Uden who turned my photographs into sculptural artworks!! More details at the Art of Navy web site. The exhibition runs to October 30, 2019.
Learn more
Enter Art Foundation, Berlin Germany Exhibition video
A short video on the Enter Art Foundation exhibition from Berlin Art Week 2018 in whcih two of my artworks are featured.
Learn more
Art Critic/Historian/Theorist Dr Gary Willis on Ralph Kerle’s Gold in The Desert Dubai UAE Exhibition
“In the hands of the wise the earth turns to gold – Rumi..” These magnificent photographs by Ralph Kerle reflect the glittering essence of Dubai’s golden dream that lay buried in its sands for centuries. I have known Ralph for 40 years now and been a keen follower of his journey into photography since its inception. This is, in fact, the second catalogue essay I have written on his work. But Ralph’s images of Dubai are profoundly different to his images of Sydney. In these shimmering reflections of Dubai arising from the depths of its own ingenuity, Ralph seems to have reinvented himself as an alchemist – transforming all that he sees into pure gold. Clearly these are images of a dazzlingly smart city, built from the good fortune of black gold – oil, but in Ralph’s mirror of Dubai we witness the transformative act of an alchemist at work in ‘the richest gold mine in the known universe’ – the imagination. At origin the word Alchemy derives from ancient Arabic sources in the word Kimiya meaning – black – and has given rise to Al Kimiya – Alchemy - and the metaphysical search for that which brings life into perfection; the spiritual act of the self-transformation from formless base matter into pure gold. This is the production that the alchemists call ‘the hermetic wedding’ which produces ‘the son of the sun’ – The Philosopher’s Stone in whose radiant light we appreciate the alchemical significance of Rumi’s famous line, In the hands of the wise the earth transforms into gold. However, although long since discredited as a pseudo-science, the alchemical act of self-transformation remains as mysterious as ever. The 16th century physicist, astronomer and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton, began his research as a alchemist in search of The Philosopher’s Stone and as an early alchemist Newton identifies as an arcane and spiritual man, who believed all natural phenomena were motivated by spiritual forces, not merely physical events. Alongside his examinations of natural phenomena, Newton catalogues alchemical phenomenon such as 'Neptune's Trident', 'Mercury's Caducean Rod' and the 'Green Lion'. Today we are in no doubt that gold is a rare element, that which requires a cataclysmic thermo-nuclear event to forge the nucleus of its sub-atomic structure. The Big-Bang produced carbon and oxygen, but it takes the collapse of a star, such as our own sun, to create a thermo-nuclear event required to produce hydrogen and helium. Such an event is called a supernova. But still it requires the collapse of a star five times the size of our sun, to initiate the thermo-nuclear event required to emit Iron (Fe). The collapsing core of such a supernova becomes a neutron star, whose nucleus is compressed into unbelievably dense matter. For example, just one teaspoon of neutron star matter would be heavier than the entire mass of Mt. Everest. However, to produce gold it takes the further collapse of two such neutron stars in what is called a kilonova event. Only a kilonova event is capable of forging the sub-atomic structures of a neutron star, to create the heavier elements of the periodic table, such as Gold (Au), Platinum (Pt) and Uranium (U). In October 2018, for the very first time ever, astrophysicists detected such a kilonova event, as a gamma-ray burst emanating from the other side of the universe – 130 million light years away. This cataclysmic merger of two neutron stars generated ripples in the time-space gravitational field surpassing astronomer’s expectations but confirming their theoretical modelling. The radioactive debris emanating from this cataclysmic kilonova began as plumes of the lighter elements, such as Silver (Ag), but soon gave rise to the heavier elements, such as Gold (Au) and Uranium(U). Scientists have since quantified the amount of gold produced in this single event at about 200 times the mass of the Earth and confirmed the kilonova as the only possible origin of gold in the entire Universe. So there goes any idea that an Alchemist could produce real gold. However Ralph Kerle’s golden photographs of Dubai, reflect the gold of the human spirit. In this regard we must return to the recollections of Rumi – the thirteenth century Islamic scholar and poet. “What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean? There’s no point in giving you my heart and soul because you have them already. So I bring you a mirror to gaze at yourself and perhaps remember me.” This, I believe, is the gift that Ralph Kerle’s photographs of Dubai offer – the gift of self-reflection.
Learn more
10 Seconds to A Yellow Artwork
The 10 seconds nature offers me to make a digital work and how nature reveals the work
Learn more
New Work's from Sydney, Portugal, Dubai
A quick view walking past Ralph Kerle's Gallery with his new works from Australia, Portugal and Dubai
Learn more
Paradoelia - the State of Unconscious Inference
Unconscious Inference 2 - 1500 x 1000mm Often when I see an image for the first time I think is worthy of being a potential new piece, I attempt to title it. Sometimes the title comes immediately. The abstraction in the work is apparent at first glance and will name itself. At other times, titling the work is a real challenge. Sometimes an artwork will simply not give up a title that seems a suitable descriptor for the content in the work.In my favourite current read “the Age of Insight” , written by Eric Kandel, Nobel Prize Winner and Founder, the Center of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Columbia University, offers an interesting explanation as to why this might be the case.Kandel suggests our brains have an upward and downwards sensemaking operating mechanism. In the front of our forehead lies the thalamus. This part of the brain operates as a major learning mechanism through its interactions with the external world. It is here where the brain first encounters the experience of seeing, hearing, smelling before it enters the cerebral cortex. At the back of our skull lies the hindbrain made up of the cerebellum, pons and medulla, the repository of our genetically pre-disposed sense of being. It is the part of the brain that deals with our innate sense of survival.A connection along the brain’s synapses must occur between these two elements for us to make sense of our world. These connections occur rapidly, continually in the moment, as we sense and filter the stimuli in the world in which we live.Therefore it is not uncommon, indeed some would argue it is common, for external stimuli the brain doesn’t immediately recognize, results in an illusion. The brain needs to have an immediate answer for what we are experiencing in the moment so it can ready itself for its next moment of perception. This phenomenon is called paradoelia, a mental state that can be described as the tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as seeing shapes in clouds, seeing faces in inanimate objects or abstract patterns, or hearing hidden messages in music.Kandel calls this phenomenon the state of unconscious inference. This is what I am experiencing when my brain is seeking to title a work. I tried and tried to name this new piece. The two elements of my brain failed to make a meaningful connection so I have titled it “Unconscious Inference 2” the artwork to hold this nomenclature. Perhaps your brain might perceive this differently, make a quick connection and come up with a better title. How did your brain experience this artwork?
Learn more
Ralph Kerle's Art in Portugal
WelcomeToArt Gallery, Embaixada, Principe Real, Lisbon, Portugal I was honoured to be asked to participate in a new group exhibition at the WelcomeToArt Art Gallery in one of Lisbon’s hip new concept/gallery spaces, Embaixada, Praça do príncipe real 26,1° 1250-184. The exhibition included three up and coming Portuguese photographers Teresa Marques dos Santos, Jorje and award winning José Esteves Martins providing me with an opportunity to expose my work and to interact with the Portuguese fine art photographic community.Following the exhibition opening, I went on a location scout along the coast line and water ways of Portugal that will result a series of new works out of Portugal in 2019. This first work comes from Aveiro in northern Portugal often referred to as the Venice of Portugal. This work has opened up a new theme that I have entitled Buildings on Water, Buildings on Water 1, Aveiro Portugal. 1600 x 1061mm
Learn more
A Good Eye
Desert Water Groove 1650 x 1275 Dubai Marina, Dubai UAE Nov 12 5.24pm A Good Eye Regularly viewers of my work tell me I have a “good” eye. The reality is I have very very bad eyesight. I have a serious eye condition known as keratoconus. Keratoconus is the slow deterioration and ultimate death of the muscles in the cornea, the surface of the eye. In the mid-1980s I had a corneal transplant that reclaimed sight in my right eye and I am legally blind in my left eye without a hard contact lens that holds my deteriorating cornea in place for the moment.A recent trip to my eye surgeon provided totally unexpected insight – the pun is intended – as to how this condition plays into my artistic practice and why I see the world the way I do.The surgeon had sitting in on the consultation a trainee ophthalmologist and in a brief exchange between the two as the surgeon was looking into my eyes through his phoropter, the surgeon explained keratoconus sufferers see the world in a unique way. A normal cornea has the firmness and shape of a camera lens allowing the brain immediate focus in any given moment. On the other hand, keratoconus sufferers are always seeing shapes with slightly blurred or haloed edges. Their brains have learnt to accept this abnormality in focus searching for movement and stillness to enable perception as distinct from those with normal eyesight whose brains register immediate sharpness on focus. The images I create come as a result of my brain harnessing the uniqueness of the way my eyes see the world. I am often asked by viewers “what am I looking at ?”and on reflection the viewer is observing my subconscious at work, actively interacting with my impaired body - specifically my deeply damaged eyesight..At last, an explanation perhaps for the “good” eye.
Learn more