Arthur Wicks, Stretcher

Arthur Wicks: Stretcher

The Artist

Born in 1937 in Sydney, Arthur Wicks is best known as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and teacher. Having gained a Bachelor of Science at the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts at the ANU, Wicks went onto study, travel and paint in Europe between 1967 and 1968 and in Germany in 1983. According to Alan and Susan McColluch, the basis of Wicks' art is photography as applied to the recording of natural phenomena presented in serial form. In his 1980 exhibition in Melbourne, he showed serialised photographs taken over a 12 month period of the same place at the same time on successive days.  His work has appeared in 29 exhibitions  and is represented in the National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank, the Albany Regional Gallery, the State Library of Victoria and the Australian Print Workshop.

The Work of Art

Created in 1973, Stretcher is from a very limited run  of screen-prints. It depicts as the name suggests a photographic image of a canvas stretcher  in ochre and red onto a black background. The screenprint is characterised by the folds and creases of the sagging fabric. The work is an exceptionally long work of art which Wicks has deliberately used to capture the subject  in as much detail. In certain respects the work comes across as an abstract form. The viewer may wish to differ. Although this is the only work of art by Arthur Wicks in the University's collection, other works show Wick's effective use of photography in printmaking  such as  'homage to the bullet' created in 1968 and represents a reaction to the Vietnam War.

References:

Australian Prints and Print-Making:http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/23144/images/6837/

Alan and Susan McColluch, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1994.