The Art Journal
The Official Opening of the Indeterminate Sublime Exhibition
A video of the official opening of the exhibition including a speech by the Australian Ambassador to Sweden Finland and Latvia and a short speech in which I describe the history and intent behind the exhibition and the artworks.
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Mark Rothko's Art, Its Connection with and Influence on Ralph Kerle's work
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Stage of Rothko’s Creative Evolution [/caption] The new season of exhibitions that runs until mid May 2023 at the Mark Rothko Arts Centre marks the 10th anniversary of this important EU and Latvian cultural initiative. What an honour to be a featured artist during this period. The Rothko’s currently on show at the gallery are reproductions awaiting the arrival in April from the Rothko Foundation in America of 6 major original works. Now I have had a chance to see Rothko’s work at full size, albeit reproductions, the more I understand why my work was selected to exhibit during this period. Rothko was greatly influenced by J.M.W.Turner, the 18th Century marine artist with his impressionistic style and innovative use of watercolour and his obsession with colour as emotion. The distinct lack of sharp edges in his works are all elements that have been an integral part of my work.
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National Opportunities for Impaired People
I looked up at the gallery entrance to see Alan with his white cane feeling his way down the stairs into the gallery. As I looked up from the entrance desk, he smiled at me and said “Love your artwork...” This was a shock. Was this guy having me on? I am the one who is playing with perception and how the brain works so this ironic exchange required some cognitive adjustment of my own. Alan has developed a rare eye condition in which the pigment in his eye is slowly disintegrating. He will go blind ultimately. The condition was diagnosed 5 years ago and he has now lost all peripheral vision. He uses the cane so he doesn’t knock people over or knock into things. He has tunnel vision on a good day. Alan’s attitude towards his condition is brave. He is opposed to the name “the national disability scheme”. He wants it renamed “the national opportunity scheme for impaired peoples” because of the way he has seen opportunities to view and interact with the world in different ways as he actively learns to live with his condition. Daily creative and intellectual conversations about how he is experiencing his life and sharing those insights (pun intended) is vital for Alan’s continuing mental health Thanks, Alan for sharing your journey and I’m looking forward to your next visit to the gallery.
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The Story of a Photographic Fine Art Collector
Dr Gary Willis, one of Australia’s leading art theorists has drawn my attention to a short video by one of the world’s leading photographic art collectors. W. M. Hunt talks about why he became a collector of photography and how he goes about collecting. A fascinating expose for those who might be considering collecting in this medium
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Serendipity Strikes, Again!
Sometimes the world conspires to be kind to you!! I was in the middle of explaining my artwork to a couple who had just walked into the gallery. They were enthusiastic and that tends to make me more loquacious. Suddenly, the woman quite rightly interrupted me and said “My husband is the publisher of Photo Review and he won’t tell you that because he is not prone to self -promotion.” I stopped in my tracks. Photo Review is certainly one of the oldest photo magazines in Australia being continually published monthly for 27 years and, by reputation, purportedly the most prestigious photographic publication in Australia. I paused, reflected. Shut up and listen my brain commanded me. Almost an hour later, David, publisher of Photo Review and Belinda Sullivan left the gallery with the promise of a visit by the editor of the magazine, Don Norris to see whether Don might see the same uniqueness in my art David had and whether he might be interested writing an article about this uniqueness. I sat back at my desk, exhilarated. To have your endeavors and artworks recognized as being unique by your peers such as the owner of one of the leading publications and influences in the photographic world in Australia is the ultimate endorsement creatively. Here is the link to read the leading story in Photo Review’s May 2022 Issue. Thank you Don Norris for the most intelligent encapsulation of my journey and work to date. Enjoy the reading the article. PS. David Sullivan acquired the Flight into Blue
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Rothko, Residency, Russia
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Mark Rothko Arts Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia [/caption] Surely, I must be the only artist in Australia who has been offered a 3-month residency/exhibition on the Russian border since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. It is in the Mark Rothko Arts Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia (formerly Dvinsk, USSR) and the birthplace of Mark Rothko. I was originally offered this residency in 2020 after his daughter, Kate Rothko, Chair, the Rothko Foundation, had seen my work in 2018 whilst being exhibited in Riga. Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the residency and I didn't think I would be included in the Centre's new re-worked cultural programme as its cultural remit is for the Baltics and Central Asian artists.However thanks to my art consultant Vineta Ungailo's ongoing representations, I received an email on Monday confirming a new residency/exhibition arrangement from March through to May 2023. The Mark Rothko Arts Centre is housed in a 14th Century Russian fortress on the Latvian side of the Russian border. Hopefully the cannon is pointing in the right direction whatever that is..... Untitled Red (1953) - Rothko The Redness in Reflection 1 (2019) - Kerle Gold Embraces Blue - Kerle (2017)Yellow and Blue Untitled (1953) - Rothko Rothko and the Colour Field I only became aware of Mark Rothko’s work and history when a member of the public walked into my gallery at the Intercontinental Hotel Sydney, pointed to my work the Water Line on the wall and asked how much the Rothko was. He looked askance when I told him the price. "Rothko's work sells for $80million and above. This must be a fake" he said. I didn’t know who Rothko was.Subsequently I researched and became familiar with Mark Rothko’s body of works and I am honored to be even mentioned in the same breath.The above examples of Rothko's most famous artworks alongside my documentary photographs reveal how colour and surface flatness, the basic elements of colour field painting, can be re-interpreted with a close up photograph of Nature's creation - reflections on the surface of the water - a prime source for any colour field.
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Take A Quick Trip Inside the Latest Ralph Kerle Gallery
For those of you who haven't visited the new Ralph Kerle Gallery at 63 the Corso, Manly, Sydney Australia, or who simply wont be able to, I've made a short handheld social media style film so you can see what the new gallery looks like.
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My Favourite Artwork - the Flight into Blue
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1279"] The Flight into Blue - 100 x 120 [/caption] Regularly I am asked what my favourite artwork is and my response is always the same – my most recent work. Each new set of photographs challenges me because of what they potentially offer. When I know intuitively I have a new work from a set, it is an epiphany. I guard these epiphanous moments with great care because I never know whether there will be any more. That is the excitement in creativity! Each new work reveals itself very differently though. Sometimes the photograph offers an embellishment of an established theme or style in my work such as the Land Escape series.. Sometimes it is just a single photograph that stares straight back at me and dares me not to crop or straighten it in any way. This breakthrough moment of clarity is exhilarating!! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="5472"] The Original Photograph [/caption] More rarely, another mode of invention for a new work evolves out of a slow smoulder with a prospective client’s unintentional comment or suggestion. Whilst,the client was viewing the work “What To Call It”, she remarked she liked the colour in the work, yet wondered if I might remove the word, in other words, Photoshop the word “”Imagine” out. I am quite strict about not using Photoshop on any of my works so I suggested I might seek out the original shots from this day’s shoot to see what was in the vault. The result is my current favourite work - the Flight into Blue and I am thankful the prospective client in a creative conversation opened my mind to new possibilities in my work. I love these types of conversations. Creativity often comes an incidental aside and can become the basis of a very satisfying collaboration. The more I cropped and moved into the original photograph, the more my brain began to see the works of the modern masters such as the founder of the French Impressionist movement, Claude Monet’s wonderful reflections on the water. Van Gogh and the deep blues in his work made a strong appearance and it was French Nouveau Realist painter Yves Klein who said “Blue has no dimension, it is “beyond dimensions”..Klein invented and patented what is today known as the International Yves Klein Blue, the colour force in the Flight into Blue. Very rarely does a work surface such a combination of influences..Will I find something to match this? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4651"] What To Call It? [/caption]
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Showcasing with Leading Latvian Interior Designer, Elina Yukuma
Leading Latvian interior designer, Elina Yukuma, recently re-located to London, has included two of my works, Inner Estuaries 1 and Water Notation Reflection 1 in a showcase for luxury apartment development Moho Park in Riga, Latvia. I was introduced to Elina’s work via Vineta Ungailo, art consultant from Arte Tre Ta and it is an honour to be collaborating with Elina. You can see more of Elina’s completed projects and more about Elina’s philosophy here. Full details and stories about the works can be viewed here. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1440"] Water Reflection Notation 1 - 90 x 112cm [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Inner Estuaries 1 - 105 x 160 [/caption]
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The Opening of Ralph Kerle's Gallery, 63 the Corso, Manly
I N V I T A T I O NFriday 26 November/Saturday 27 NovemberThe Opening of Ralph Kerle's Gallery63 the Corso, Manly, Sydney Australia. REGISTER TO ATTEND Please join us in celebrating the opening of a brand new exhibition space exhibiting Ralph Kerle's art in Australia's famed the Corso, Manly Beach, Sydney. The celebrations will include, in collaboration with US company ChromaLuxe, the launch of a unique exhibition of 8 new artworks created on high-performance photographic metal panels. Covid 19 regulations require us to limit the event attendance so we are offering you a a choice of Friday November 26 or Saturday November 27 evenings. RSVP is essential. Admittance is by ticket only. Choose your preferred date and register REGISTER TO ATTEND Join us for a night of drinks, conversation, music and art!! We really look forward to welcoming you to the next step in Ralph Kerle's evolution in fine art photography!! Kind regards, Ralph
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Nature Abstracts
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3515"] Orange Water Geometry , “An amazing image. The vivid colours, broken likes, strong ripples and depth of field are all elements I adore in this piece. The colour-blocked colours create a strong central composition, paired with leading lines on the waters surface. This shot is a masterpiece..” [/caption] I am very thankful to a photographer colleague who introduced me to Studio 19 Rentals, an Australian gear rental company specializing in cameras, guitars, bikes, and technology rental. Traditionally, when a new camera model was released, I would talk to colleagues about the pros and cons, read various articles, and then make a decision to stump up the funds to buy without first having the option to try the model to see whether it was appropriate for the very specific work I do. Over time, this proved to be a financially wasteful exercise, with a couple of expensive cameras left on the studio shelf for decoration gathering dust. The Studio 19 rental model allows you to rent a new camera for 6 months at a very inexpensive monthly rate, buy it outright if you like it at the end of the 6 months, continue the rental for 3 years or, and even more importantly, return it after 6 months without any encumbrances if you haven’t found it useful. The Musk Mars Mover on the Move "This image was the first that stood out to me, the gradient variation and depths of the blue instantly drew me to it. I really like how the reflection has carried to the peaks of the ripples, it adds a sense of depth and carries your eye across the shot to take it all in…” Ella Reid from the Studio 19 Marketing Team knew I was a happy customer, saw my artwork and proposed writing an article on my work for the Studio 19 blog. What a great opportunity to receive feedback from a highly experienced executive who views hundreds of photographs daily I thought. So I asked her to select the images from my works for the article, provide some commentary on why she chose each one and to give me permission to publish her comments rather than me proposing a selection as I would normally do. And she agreed!!! Her comments sit beside each artwork. The Green Houses. “An eye-catching shot. The tones are calming, relaxing and soothing. The element I love most is the texture throughout the image. The sky above the houses looks just like a watercolour painting, with different strokes and depth in colour. Just an overall beautiful shot…”" After a couple of years experimentation, this rental arrangement enabled me to settle on the use of high end compact cameras for all my work. When I shooting in the kayak, I need the camera to be instantly available, ready to point. The artworks Ella chose and commented on were taken using two compact cameras a Canon G5x and a Sony RX100 Mark Vii. I am in the process of deciding which one to return after 6 months usage so I can try the new highly rated Panasonic Lumix LX100 II Movement in Blue “Another favourite of mine, can you tell I’m drawn to blue and green tones so far? I love getting lost in this shot, there are so many elements and shapes for your eyes to play with. I love the fluid subject and the composition, as your eyes direct up, down, left and right. Ralph has really captured a stunning abstract piece with this photo.” View see the artwork in full screen together with the story and all details on how the artwork is created click on the links in the artworks.
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The Australian Weekend Magazine features Ralph Kerle
Delighted to have been featured in the Heart of the Nation section of the Australian Weekend Magazine. I am cautious with journalists. However, Ross Billton, Deputy Editor, the Australian Weekend Magazine, synthesized our 50 minute interview in way whereby when I read it, I felt not a single ounce of tension in his writing. Thanks, Roos
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