Anthony Fitzpatrick sits at the restaurant across from the gallery.
(This article was originally written for The Swinburne Standard in September 2018)
It is easy to overlook the immense amount of work put into every detail on display when visiting an art gallery exhibition. The artwork might be the star of the show but every aspect of the display is a deliberate decision made to enhance the art - from the deliberately coloured walls to the ambient music flowing through the rooms. At the TarraWarra Museum of Art, those decisions are made by curator of the exhibition.
Walking through the gallery, Anthony Fitzpatrick, the curator of the Museum of Art, seems at ease divulging the details of the artworks. Describing the process behind a display of stacked stones, a wall covered in an array of melted bronze chunks, and a large black tarpaulin sculpture which seemed to resemble a dolphin, Anthony takes great pleasure in walking among these artworks and discussing each one. The gallery’s current exhibit, ‘From Will to Form’, which was created by guest curator Emily Cormack, displays work from artists from across the country and explores the process of how initial ideas or emotions of artists manifest themselves into artworks. “One of the premises behind this current show comes from this idea from a French philosopher, that art isn’t so much about representing or inventing things, but of capturing forces,” says Anthony.
Anthony has been the curator of the TarraWarra Museum of Art since 2011, having previously honed his curating skills as the collection manager of the Cunningham Dax Collection, and then as the assistant curator of the Maroondah Art Gallery. He originally studied literature and classics, and imagined himself exploring museology as a career path. However after meeting his now wife, an artist, he started to frequent contemporary art exhibitions, and was drawn back into a love of art that he had not fostered since his school years. Overlooking the Yarra Valley and surrounded by vineyards, the TarraWarra Museum of Art houses its collection of modern Australian art within a striking, nest shaped structure, with concrete pillars jutting from the central courtyard and towering above the valley below. The gallery was founded by philanthropists Eva and Marc Besen, and opened its doors in 2003.
Anthony Fitzpatrick in and amongst the art in the gallery courtyard.
In the restaurant next to the gallery, Anthony strikes up conversation with the estate manager. They speak of how the concrete surface of the courtyard has recently been cleaned, but now the discolouration at the top of the massive concrete pillars stands out more. Despite being just across the courtyard from the gallery offices, Anthony says he doesn’t usually grab lunch at the restaurant. “I usually just eat ‘al desko’”. His herbal tea arrives with a comically large metal tea-leaf infuser in it, and, in between sips, he explains his process of curation. “When we curate exhibitions here, we try not to necessarily present a typical, chronological exhibition, where you start with the early works, then trace particular developments, and then move through to what’s happening now. Instead, our approach is to look at the past through the filter of the present, and the different ways artworks correspond or are in dialogue with each other, even if not made in a similar context.
“For instance, when I curated an abstract art show, it was more based around particular ideas or thematic concerns, as opposed to movements,” says Anthony.
Mim Armour, Registrar of the gallery, says that Anthony’s dedication to thorough research is one of his great strengths as a curator. “He’s able to really delve into an artist and what an artist is about, and he tends to delve to an archival level.
“People find that really interesting because they want to know more about the artist, how the artist is thinking, and how those artworks are created.” Tony Dutton, General Manager of the gallery, agrees that Anthony’s devotion to in-depth research makes him a brilliant curator, and the results are appreciated by visitors to the gallery. “For the Howard Arkley exhibition that we had a couple of summers ago, which Anthony was the curator for, he didn’t just have the paintings and drawings by Arkley, he actually had the music that Arkley was interested in playing.”
“A number of visitors really appreciated the extra things he did for that exhibition.”
The sheer amount of research and preparation that is involved in conceptualising and creating a gallery exhibition is an often underappreciated aspect of curation. With the average exhibition at TarraWarra taking two years to put together, Anthony explains that some of the work that a curator does can go unnoticed. “I don’t think necessarily everyone who goes to an exhibition is thinking about how they’ve done the lighting or why they’ve painted the walls a particular colour,” says Anthony. For a recent exhibit on Welsh-Australian artist Edwin Tanner, Anthony delved into the engineer-turned artist’s personal letters and estate archives. “He had a lifelong correspondence with one of our greatest poets, Gwen Harwood, and her letters to him have been published and I’d read those, but his letters to her were just housed in a library and largely unread.
“In the letters there were some really interesting discussions about particular works he made, or he would be talking about a piece of work as he was making it. So you’ve got these incredible insights into the processes behind some of the works that appear in the exhibitions.”
Artwork by Dale Harding and Jordan Upkett, displayed at the TarraWarra Museum of Art as part of the ‘From Will to Form’ exhibition.
For the Tanner exhibition, Anthony had to consider the layout of the entire gallery floor, and organise it so as to give visitors the best appreciation of the art and artist possible. “Sometimes an artist’s biography can be sensationalised to the point where it overshadows their work, and people just want to talk about this life they lead,” says Anthony.
“So in the first room of that exhibition, I tried to give people this kind of sense of just how complex, layered and remarkable he was, and then after that, people look at different themes within his practice and how they shifted as he went along.” Forming a narrative throughout the exhibit so visitors can best appreciate the artist’s work is an important part of curation, says Anthony. “It’s about trying to communicate clearly and concisely. It doesn’t mean the ideas have to be simple or watered down, they can be very complex, but they need to be communicated clearly.” Anthony notes that his favourite aspect of curation is engaging with visitors to the exhibition. “Often the best things are when you have someone say something about the work that you hadn’t considered before.
“Everyone brings a different set of experiences and subjectivities to their reading of an artwork, so for me, even though I’ve spent a couple of years working with it, people can reveal aspects of a work that make me go ‘why didn’t I think of that?’”
As empty tea cups are taken away from the table, Anthony mentions his musical past. “I was a musician and a DJ for a while before curating, which will probably sound more interesting than hospitality and customer service!” After explaining his past success as a DJ and lack thereof with his old band, Anthony notes the natural progression of his creative passions. “Someone pointed out to me that being a DJ is a bit like curating in a way, selecting songs and creating an atmosphere and environment, responding to what’s going on around you.” On the prospect of a return to his old musical ways at TarraWarra: “There’s been talk of a staff party. Maybe.”