The Church Gallery is very pleased to present an exhibition of exciting new paintings by local artist Lisa Wolfgramm. She is an important mid-career artist who has been exhibiting for fifteen years, since graduating from WAIT, now Curtin University, in 1987. Lisa was born in Melbourne in 1959 and moved to Perth in 1975. This is her sixth solo exhibition, which reveals a significant progress and maturation of her current style.

Lisa has exhibited in many significant group exhibitions, such as In Abstract, held recently at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery. This exhibition surveyed the work of eleven local abstract artists, all considered to be among the best in their field. Paint!, held at PICA in 2000, also received critical acclaim. In his catalogue essay for Paint! John Stringer succinctly described Lisa’s work as being “dominated by pattern and clarity, [her] canvases are very focused and simple in design, using a limited palette that is enriched through superimposition and the use of transparency. In most instances her use of repetition implies continuity, suggesting that the motif is a fragment from a larger and potentially infinite order, rather than a thing homogenous and complete in itself. Sobering neutrals and a taste for predictable order, situates Wolfgramm’s work within a formalist dialogue, which is noteworthy for its distinctive mastery of surface, colour and design.”

Over the two years since John wrote these words, Lisa has continued to refine and perfect her unique painting technique, again producing paintings using a minimal colour range for this exhibition. The resulting red, blue and yellow paintings are superb, ophisticated and elegant. They combine shimmering optical illusions with a rigorous investigation into the qualities of paint. These paintings are suffused with layers of translucent movement and subtle colour changes that delight and deceive the eye.

Lisa has undertaken postgraduate study at Curtin University and Edith Cowan University. She currently teaches painting at ECU. Over the past fourteen years she has also been involved in various artist-run cooperatives and galleries, including the Beach Gallery and the Verge Inc. Lisa has artworks in several prestigious Australian art collections, including the Art Gallery of WA, University of WA, Artbank, The Cruthers Collection, Bankwest, Edith Cowan University, Curtin University, Murdoch University, Royal Perth Hospital, City of Joondalup, and the City of Fremantle.

*prices valid 2002