Lovely words about Quadrilogue from Christopher Heathcote in Art Beat Melbourne:
Not so much a review, as a mention for the Castlemaine Experimental Print Prize. Looking like a big curated show—it fills the entire back gallery, and an adjacent display room—there are way too many pieces to cover. I’d like to say something about at least three quarters of the artists, which testifies to the overall quality of work selected. And don’t let that term ‘Experimental’ allow you to pre-judge because this is a normal print prize, with only a couple of pieces technically stretching the envelope.
I’d recommend that visitors initially go through and look at the entire hang, savouring each work for its visual qualities. Do not read the long labels before looking, because they are overloaded (overburdened?) with agendas which can be such a distraction. Once you have had a firm look, then read that label, and assorted works will change considerably in your estimation.
Rebecca Murray’s entry needs no verbal justification. Based on tiny leaf litter scattered upon the ground, the intricate decisions made by her sensitive eye are so evident, so aesthetically sufficient, that mere words diminish the complex visual qualities of her work.
In contrast, Chris Orr’s anxious complaint ‘AI cannibalises our art’ seems to complete—and enhance—his immense labyrinthine image of automaton-like faces absorbed into motherboard components. Those words about AI not only serve to focus the viewer’s attention. They articulate feelings I have much heard of late (Orr’s disturbing slogan ought to be printed on signs and carried about by young creators at the next Art Fair).
Meanwhile Damon Kowarsky’s entry brings up that old dilemma about art which trades in the ‘unsayable’. You look at his multi-plate aquatint of a wilderness landscape, which seems a straightforward view, then read this is where Kowarsky spent his honeymoon—the etching is from a drawing made that joy-filled week. The modernist sculptor Gaston Lachaise had a special category for such work: ‘This was made with love,’ he’d declare, insisting no other information was required to engage with it meaningfully.
Quadrilogue is showing as part of the Castlemaine Experimental Print Prize at Castlemaine Art Museum until 1 March 2026.
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