Footy Pictures by Jim Pavlidis and lunch with my mum

 

by Yvette Wroby

 

I love meeting the real people at Almanac events after I have read their pieces or seen their art work.  There’s a community of twisted, interesting people all linked by words and creativity.  So I took my Mum on Saturday to Jim Pavlidis and his fourteen wonderful, iconoclastic  masterpieces.  I even bought one I liked them so much.

Jim was so excited for us to be there to see his work.  It is at Letitia Morris Gallery, 1156 High Street Armadale, and is open Mondays to Fridays 12-5pm, Saturday 11-5pm and runs until 17^th September.  It is a small, comfortable gallery with only Jims work, so you get the feel of his lovely mind and beautiful ideas as you can take your time to look.  Each print is based on the style of an old master, like the “Abletts – after Duccio” which is done in the style of old religious paintings in the flatness of the old pre-oil, tempera paintings.  In it, Gary Ablett Snr is as God is holding Gary Ablett Jr as the baby-god surrounded by the faces of old Geelong legends. It’s both perfectly positioned as based on a Duccio piece of work, but with our football imagery instead of what the original artist intended.  A great twist.  We had Jim to ourselves for a few moments as we looked, and we had the luxury of the artist guiding us through his visions.

“The Irish Experiment – After Drysdale”  shows Jimmy Stymes and one of his countrymen with their suitcases in the middle of an Australian country town.  You can imagine….”what the…, where are we” that his print evokes from the characters within.

“Last game at the Western Oval – After De Chirico” shows number 3 for the Doggies with Frank Costa’s building to one side and Whitten Oval in the background.

We loved “The Expulsion from Eden – After Michelangelo” which showed the Fitzroy boys being banished to the land of the Queenslanders.  Very  clever.

But the one both Mum and I fell in love with was “Kicking Yips – After Pollock” and anyone who watches their football team kick too many behinds  should check this one out at the exhibition or on Jims site: www.jimpavlidis.com/footy.html   The colours are brilliant, like Pollocks originals, and the image of the shimmering goal posts in front of a smashing of bright colours like the floggers from cheer-squads, well, it’s like being there.  It took our breath away.

Mum and I said goodbye and went for a lovely lunch and catch up, down the road, and I decided to go back and buy it.  So I am now a proud owner (when I get it in the next few weeks) of a print that Jim will autograph for me to add that extra flavour.

Definitely worth a look.  Come to this side of town and eat at one of the many restaurants after you’ve had your fill of Jims view of the world of art and football.  It’s a hoot.