Sydney Ball

Sydney Ball (29 October 1933 – 5 March 2017) was an Australian abstract painter. He has been called ‘one of Australia’s leading colour abstract painters.[1] He has also been credited with bringing large scale abstract expressionist paintings, or Color Field paintings, to Australia.[2]

For the geologist, see Sydney H. Ball.

Sydney Ball
Born(1933-10-29)29 October 1933
Adelaide, South Australia
Died5 March 2017(2017-03-05) (aged 83)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
MovementAbstract expressionism
Websitesydneyballart.com

Biography

Sydney Ball was born in 1933 in Adelaide, South Australia.[3] In 1962, Ball moved to New York and enrolled at the Art Students League of New York, where he studied under Theodoros Stamos.[3] During this period Ball met and was influenced by many of "The Irascible 18", including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Ball's first solo show was in 1965 at the Westerly Gallery.[4]

Ball returned to Australia in 1965 helping to bring abstract techniques to the attention of Australian artists.[1] He lived and worked in Glenorie, New South Wales in his later years.[4][5] Abstract expressionism was taken up enthusiastically by many Sydney painters in the 1960s. His contemporaries such as John Olsen, Erica McGilghrist and Leonard Hessing and the older Sam Atyeo were equally abstract but influenced by Dutch post-war avant garde and earlier Russian abstract painting, whereas Ball was one of the first Australian artists of his generation, similar to Yvonne Audette and John Vickery to take an interest in American art over European art.

In his later years, Ball was well regarded in Australian art circles and one of his large scale works was a major acquisition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Painting series and exhibitions

Band series

The Band series were Ball's first abstract paintings.[3] Consisting of vertical colour bands, the works were exhibited at the Westerly Gallery in New York in 1964.[3]

Modular series

Ball worked on the Modular series between 1968 and 1969.[6] The works are plywood constructions with high gloss enamel finishes.[3] Ball used car spraying booths to get this effect.[3] Black Reveal, a work from the series, is in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, examining the negative space of colour.[6]

Stain series

Ball moved on from purely hard-edged abstraction after a return to New York between 1969 and 1971.[1] The stain paintings, like Apache sound,[7] 1972 in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, emphasized motion in the application of the paint.[1] The series consists of approximately 100 works created by the artist during the 1970s.[2] The Stain series impacted the possibilities for abstract art in Australia.[8]

Exhibitions

Ball's work has been the subject of over 50 solo exhibitions and over 50 group exhibitions in Australia and the United States of America.[9] In 1968 Ball's work was included in the influential exhibition The Field[10] at the National Gallery of Victoria, demonstrating the arrival of hard edged abstraction in Australian art.[11] His work has also been featured in the many exhibitions that have revisited the impacts of that exhibition on Australian art, such as Birth of the cool at the Samstag Museum, Adelaide.[12]

Collections

Ball's work is in the collections of most major public galleries in Australia, including ten works in the National Gallery of Australia.[13] Internationally, Ball has work in the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea.[2]

In 2014, Ball donated 30 of his works, valued at one million dollars, to the University of South Australia.[14]

References
  1. "Great falls, (1975-1976) by Sydney Ball :: The Collection". Art Gallery NSW. 29 October 1933. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  2. "Revisiting Sydney Ball's rabble rousing days". Smh.com.au. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. "Nocookies". The Australian. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  4. Neha Kale. "Colourbursts by Sydney Ball". Broadsheet.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  5. "Sydney Ball: biography at Design and Art Australia Online". Daao.org.au. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  6. "Black reveal, (1968-1969) by Sydney Ball :: The Collection". Art Gallery NSW. 29 October 1933. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. Apache sound
  8. See Wendy Walker, Sydney Ball: the stain paintings 1971-80, 'Expanding the possibilities', pg. 13-27, Zetland, 2013 for more information.
  9. "Sydney Ball - Artist Biography | Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  10. "Tackling The Field", The Field
  11. "Birth of the Cool opens in Adelaide". Drill Hall Gallery - ANU. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  12. "ARTAND | News | Review / Commentary | Birth of the Cool". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Abstract art collection given to Uni SA by Sydney Ball - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Abc.net.au. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
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