When you think of Australian art, Ken Done is never far from mind. His colourful paint strokes, often re-imagining Sydney, have become an iconic fixture of the current Aussie zeitgeist.
By Isabella Edwards
“Art is always half a conversation”
From his BMW Art Car in 1989 to designing work for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, there are pieces of Ken Done’s work sprawled through the cultural history of the last fifty years, in Australia and beyond.
What brought you to art and painting in the first place?
Like all children, I loved to paint and draw. I can’t paint as well as a 5-year-old, but I’m always striving for that youthful attitude to painting.
What prompted you to make the move to full-time painter and leave your role in advertising in your 30s?
I went to East Sydney Tech (now the National Art School) when I was 14 and a half. I got a special exemption to leave school and worked as an Art Director in Australia, the US and London after that. My wife and I were holidaying in Vanuatu, and I was talking to the late Peter Brock and he was telling me how passionate he was about motor racing. I realised that although I was good at advertising, I wasn’t passionate about it. So, on returning to Sydney late Sunday evening, I made up my mind to leave. That was 1975. I then did numerous freelance jobs until my first exhibition on my 40th birthday in 1980.
Your style of painting is so distinctive, every Australian can spot a Ken Done piece. What inspires your intense use of colour and organic shapes?
Colour is like music. One colour depends on the colour you put next to it or how you might blend the colours together. The words harmony, composition and discord are just as applicable to painting as they are to music.
Your name and indeed your work have become synonymous with Australian art – do you ever feel burdened by that success or some strong sense of responsibility to the Australian art-scene?
It’s always flattering when people describe my work as bright and colourful. And that I’m sure comes from the great fortune of being born and living in Australia.
To follow on, what do you make of the culture towards art in Australia?
Art is always half a conversation, so the more people that feel they can be involved in the appreciation of art, the better things will be. Art is not violent. And I like to make paintings that people take pleasure from seeing.
Making art can be an incredibly personal thing, have you ever felt guarded or hesitant to share your work? Particularly in your earlier days?
I am obviously not hesitant about sharing my work. I have run my own gallery for more than 35 years and it’s always a joy when people visit that space. As I age, I in fact show less work. Getting older allows you to be more perceptive and critical of certain things. But each time you start, it’s always a journey. Easy to start. Hard to finish.
This is perhaps like asking a parent to pick their favourite child, however, of your works, are there any that stand out the most for you? Perhaps because of public perception or the reason for creating them?
The paintings that I did when I first was able to move into the Cabin at Chinaman’s Beach always give me the joy of remembering that time. We first moved into a house in the back of Chinaman’s Beach in 1969.
Then over the years we moved closer, and Glenn Murcutt designed a wonderful house for us that we have recently renovated back to its original form, with the exception of a new travertine floor that we couldn’t afford when we first built the house. It’s a wonderful building and very much one of Glenn’s most famous buildings.
We lived there for quite a number of years before we moved into the house in front called Roshervilla and the small building on the waterfront called The Cabin. It’s a great privilege to live there and we will not be leaving.
It has recently been announced that you (and a collection of other artists) will be unveiling new works, inspired by the winners of the Fantastical Shark & Rays children’s art competition for the Australian Museum. What can you tell us about this experience and working with these young artists?
It’s always great to work with talented young kids. This experience was a lot of fun and quite educational. Like most Australians, I have a healthy fear of sharks. This has taught me so much about endangered sharks and rays and how precious they are to the environment.
How do you hope art in Australia will develop in the future?
With more young people spending time on iPads and screens, I can only hope that they don’t lose that basic ability of making marks with crayons or paints with their own hands.
We urge all of our readers to visit The Ken Done Gallery in The Rocks. His current exhibition features a collection of recent works including the vibrant No.7 (2020 oil on linen) and the complete collection of works created for Ken’s latest book, ‘Poems from Home’.
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