Michael Cusack’s emblematic minimalist approach and restrained tonal palette will be exemplified in a body of new paintings on display at Karen Woodbury Gallery from 6 July. Over the past fifteen years Cusack has developed a distinctive painterly style characteristic of textural smudgings, scrapings and markings, often layered with mixed media such as Hessian, linoleum, plaster and enamel.
Cusacks’ paintings exude gradation and nuance through their refined finish on the canvas. Subtle markings with graphite pencil and crayon suggest abstracted shapes that at once emerge and immerse themselves within the works at large. This new body of work can be traced back to the inspiration Cusack found in the walls of the Aran Islands (off the west coast of Ireland) with their interlocking shapes held together by weight, weather and time. Within Cusack’s process is a ‘logic of construction’ derived from a long time interest in the diagram, the architectural blueprint, boat diagrams and the interlocking shapes in building and technical drawing. At times this logic is often interrupted within his painterly compositions that convey ideas of space, codes, rhythms and passages.
Born in 1960, Dublin, Ireland, Michael Cusack emigrated to Australia in 1982 and currently lives and works in Byron Bay, Australia. In 1997 he graduated with a Diploma of Fine Arts from the Hunter Institute of Technology, New South Wales.
He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions including, Quirky: From the Collection, Newcastle Region Art Gallery (2010); The Blake Prize (finalist) (2009); Jacaranda Drawing Prize, Grafton (2008); Still Waters Clear Visions, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW (2002); The Year in Review, S.H. Erwin Gallery, Sydney (2002); Acquisitions Show, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, NSW (2001); Vessel, Lack Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW (2001); New Works 4 Painters, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Sydney (2001); A Contemporary Perspective, Port Stephens Arts Centre, NSW (2000); Collectors Choice, Von Bertouchs Gallery, Newcastle, NSW (1998, 1999 & 2002).
Among his various awards and achievements, Michael was a finalist in The Blake Prize (2009) and has received a Highly Commended placing for the Newcastle Art Prize (2002); Maitland Art Prize (2000); and Weston Art Prize (1999). Michael has also been awarded the Newcastle Art Society’s Mattara Art Award (2000); Weston Regional Art Prize (1999); and Weston Major Art Award (1998).
His work is widely admired and features in several major public and corporate collections including Artbank; BHP Billiton; Macquarie Bank; Newcastle Region Art Gallery in addition to various private collections in Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Ireland.
