Melbourne-based artist Jennifer Goodman is a true abstractionist. Her paintings are pure explorations of colour and form, and are separate from any representational references.
Informed by an acute understanding of linear and geometric abstraction, modernism and colour theory, Goodman's rich, vibrant works are constructed from a unique combination of hues which are all hand-mixed in the studio.
Goodman studied painting at RMIT from 1975 to 1976, and although pursuing various creative endeavours, did not become a full-time artist until 20 years later. Her first solo exhibition, Chromatic Progressions, was held at John Buckley Fine Art, Melbourne in 2002. This exhibition set the tone for Goodman's practice; meticulous, considered and restrained canvases which show great respect to the abstract colourists who have come before her. She has now freed herself from the restrictions of the formal gridded work of her early years, moving into more fluid and organic forms - yet there remains an undeniable acknowledgement of modernist traditions in the contemporary iterations of her current work.
Goodman states:
"My work evolves gradually in nuanced shifts. I am currently working with two distinct yet overlapping styles and expect this will continue over the coming years. There are the solid colour forms, which fill canvases with biomorphic and looser geometric shapes, interlocking and overlapping transparencies which settle into position in a calm, controlled manner. Then there are the open floating works, emphasising the energetic movement created as the forms find their position on the canvas. I often use collage as a study for my paintings. The composition of these open works came after experimenting with the negative shapes of the paper offcuts".
Exhibiting regularly since 2000, her most recent solo exhibition, The Long Wait for the Angel was shown at Gallerysmith, Melbourne, in November 2017. This followed a residency at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne which gave Goodman an opportunity to explore a totally different medium - wool - in her work. She has incorporated this form into her practice which demands a similar obsessive perfectionism in each stitch, as does each undiscernable brushstroke on the canvas.
As a finalist in many prestigious prizes and awards, Goodman's work has also recently been seen in the John Leslie Art Prize (2018), Gippsland Art Gallery, Vic; Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize (2015, 2016, 2017), Bayside Gallery, Brighton, Vic; Calleen Art Award (2016), Cowra Regional Gallery, NSW; The 39th Alice Prize (2016), Alice Springs; Gold Coast Art Prize (2015) Gold Coast Ciry Art Gallery, Qld; National Works on Paper Prize (2012), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Vic; Fleurieu Art Prize (2011), South Australia. Goodman was also the winner of the City of Darebin La Trobe University Acquisitive Art Prize in 2007 and the Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize Local Prize in 2017.
Her work can be found in numerous collections including the Monash University Collection, McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Embassy of Australia, Washington USA, Artbank, La Trobe University Art Museum, City of Darebin and private collections in Australia, USA and UK.
Recent group shows include Of Colour & Light, curated by Anna Prifti, West End Art Space (2018); Abstraction#TwentyEighteen, curated by Wilma Tabacco and Irene Barberis, Langford 120, Melbourne (2018); McClelland Collection, McClelland Gallery+Sculpture Park (2016); and Two of a Kind, curated by Renee Cosgrove, Bundoora Homestead Gallery (2015).
Goodman is represented by Gallerysmith in Melbourne.