Paul Connor en plein air 12 August - 6 September, 2006

      
ARCHITECT PAINTER
      PAUL CONNOR 

      constructs images out of colour and line

      
New Work by Paul
      Connor

      
In his 6th solo exhibition,
      Sydney Architect and Painter Paul Connor, explores form, structure
      and the varying colours of the extraordinary Australian environments
      in which he paints and builds.

      
Connor's gouache
      on paper works are all created in the tradition of en plein air
      painting. However the fusion of his painting and architecture
      has produced dynamic linear works that are anything but traditional.

      
Connor's work has
      taken him on a journey across Australia from the sultry South
      Coast to the dusty ochre plains of the inland deserts, where
      he has built (for the Local Aboriginal Land Council at Mutawintji)
      and painted. " I don't see the two as being separate, I
      need one for the other. Studying nature whether it be a Mulga
      tree in the desert or sandstone escarpment along the coast may
      be interpreted as a painted line or as a structural solution
      in a building.

      
"Plein air painting
      allows me to study nature directly. Sometimes, I take a small
      painting kit in my kayak and head out on Sydney Harbour. The
      uniqueness of this perspective is something I want to share with
      others."

      
"I enjoy seeing
      how nature is constructed, then reconstructing it with line,
      colour and composition". Each painting is quite heavily
      worked and almost sketch-like; "I like the fact that gouache
      can be re-worked", says Connor, "that way I am able
      to reshape the piece into a complete image."

      
Connor is influenced
      by the works of Patrick Heron, Le Corbusier and Egon Schiele.
      He has been painting en plein air in gouache for the past 23
      years and whilst most known for his small images, this new work
      is on a much larger scale of images up to 92 x 84cm. His architectural
      work has been published locally and internationally.

      
Paul Connor is an
      artist and architect who has had his portrait hung in the Archibald
      Prize twice, once by his father, Kevin and more recently his
      own self portrait in gouache in the prize's 'Salon des Refuses'.
      He graduated from the Masters Program, College of Fine Art, University
      of New South Wales with first class honours. He is represented
      in collections in several regional galleries, The Margaret Olley
      Foundation and ArtBank. He is partner of the firm Connor and
      Solomon Architects in Pyrmont, Sydney

      
Andrew Rice



BIOGRAPHY - Paul Connor

Education  

      
1996 
1986

      
Graduated Masters in Fine Art (1st class honours) UNSW
Graduated B.Arch. (honours) Sydney University

2006
1993,94,95
1990

Academic Positions  

      
1996 - 1997 
1986 - 1994
Drawing
      Teacher at College of Fine Art, UNSW

      Teacher in "Design" and "Design and Theory of
      Architecture", at Sydney University

2006
2006, 2002, 1999, 1996
1991,1994

Lives and works in Sydney

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