Working in oil and collage
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Aldona Zakarauskas, Regimented Mr. Jones, 1968.
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Whilst browsing the Lawsons, Sydney, art auction website during February 2019, the author was struck by a work of mixed media collage on offer (reproduced above). It dated from January 1968 and featuring a number of pop culture characters, including what appeared to be Michael Caine from the 1966 British film Alfie. The work was by Lithuanian-born Australian artist Aldona Zakarauskas (b.1943). Its English air and Pop art sensibilities reminded one of the little known, though much lamented British artist of the early 1960s, Pauline Boty (1938-1966), who featured male film and pop culture personalities such as Jean Paul Belmondo and Elvis Presley in here work. Her British contemporaries included David Hockney (b.1937), Peter Blake (b.1932) and Bridget Riley (b.1931), though the male focus was on sexualised females such as Marilyn Monroe and Bridget Bardot. Figurative and abstract pop culture elements were presented in Zakarauskas's work through the use of seamlessly integrated collage and oil paint, such that painted elements upon close inspection were revealed as pieces of collage, and vice versa. The overall palette of greys and dark browns was cut in two by a horizontal strip of bright red, yellow, black and white, with a busy lower section beneath a simple upper block of dark brownish grey. Boty's artworks - little known outside London after her death in 1966, was similarly cut by thick lines of colour, though they were often vertical. The title of the aforementioned work - Regimented Mr. Jones - was inexplicable. Was it a reference to the Bob Dylan refrain "Do you, Mr. Jones?" from the famous 1965 song Ballad of a Thin Man? The mix of real and abstract figurative elements was also novel and very 1960s London. Who were these people? Why were they arranged so? What was the artist expressing in this work?
An initial search for references to Zakarauskas on the internet or in published sources revealed few results, not assisted by the fact - unknown to this author at the time - that the artist had gone by the name Aldona O'Brien during her working life as a teacher of painting in the Australian higher education sector - a career path followed by many talented artists in Australia during the latter part of the twentieth century and on into the next. Zakarauskas was not listed in the standard dictionaries of Australian artists, apart from Germaine (1990, 1991), and did not have a dedicated website as of 2019. Entries in modern online listings were place markers at best. Fortunately, brief biographies were initially found in a 1994 edition of the Australian Lithuanian Papers journal and on a Newcastle gallery website from a 2016 solo exhibition (Zakarauskas 1994, AWS 2016). This was followed by the discovery of a more detailed biography in an unpublished thesis from 1992 on Lithuanian artists working in Australia (Kazokas 1992). Through these sources it was revealed that Aldona had worked for some 30 years as a lecturer in art within the tertiary education sector (university and TAFE) at Newcastle. As a result, she played a significant role in the education of emerging artists in the Hunter region of New South Wales, whilst also maintaining her own practice over an extensive period from the mid' 1960s through to the present day (2020). One source stated Zakarauskas had exhibited in 13 individual shows and 3 installations along with participating in a wide range of major group shows in Australia and overseas (AWS 2016). The areas in which she worked - to which, in part, the labels collage, Pop and Surrealism could be attached - were never at the forefront of popular art movements in Australia. The focus therein was more on traditional landscape and abstract expressionism, with artists such as the Surrealist James Glesson and Pop artist Martin Sharp very much on the fringe as they pursued a more international style. Zakarauskas' point of view was most definitely beyond Australian shores, and most likely influenced in part by her Lithuanian heritage. This author, despite strenuous efforts, was never able to contact the artist in person, though the Art Gallery of New South Wales was successful in this, as part of hits Archie 100 Project during 2020, celebrating 100 years of the Archibald Prize (see below).
A detailed biography of Aldona Zakarauskas is to be found in the thesis Lithuanian Artists in Australia 1950-1990 (Kazokas 1992). It is based on extensive research and an interview recorded with the artist on 13 February 1988. Relevant biographical text is herein reproduced in full:
This blog is a listing of some of Aldona Zakarauskas's artwork, focusing on that early period which is of most interest to this writer, but also limited by material available on public access. The listing not only includes works of art, but also historical photographs of relevance and reviews. Biographical notes and comments on the works are also interspersed throughout. As an art teacher rather than a professional artist whose livelihood was reliant upon sales, this perhaps explains the relative scarcity of Zakarauskas' work in the public domain, along with the lack of an online presence as one is used to with many modern day artists. Having worked substantially in the pre-digital age, Aldona's social media and online footprint is lacking. This blog is an effort to address that to a dregee and bring to notice the work of an Australian artist whose output is distinctive, possessing a truly international flavour.
Chronology
An initial search for references to Zakarauskas on the internet or in published sources revealed few results, not assisted by the fact - unknown to this author at the time - that the artist had gone by the name Aldona O'Brien during her working life as a teacher of painting in the Australian higher education sector - a career path followed by many talented artists in Australia during the latter part of the twentieth century and on into the next. Zakarauskas was not listed in the standard dictionaries of Australian artists, apart from Germaine (1990, 1991), and did not have a dedicated website as of 2019. Entries in modern online listings were place markers at best. Fortunately, brief biographies were initially found in a 1994 edition of the Australian Lithuanian Papers journal and on a Newcastle gallery website from a 2016 solo exhibition (Zakarauskas 1994, AWS 2016). This was followed by the discovery of a more detailed biography in an unpublished thesis from 1992 on Lithuanian artists working in Australia (Kazokas 1992). Through these sources it was revealed that Aldona had worked for some 30 years as a lecturer in art within the tertiary education sector (university and TAFE) at Newcastle. As a result, she played a significant role in the education of emerging artists in the Hunter region of New South Wales, whilst also maintaining her own practice over an extensive period from the mid' 1960s through to the present day (2020). One source stated Zakarauskas had exhibited in 13 individual shows and 3 installations along with participating in a wide range of major group shows in Australia and overseas (AWS 2016). The areas in which she worked - to which, in part, the labels collage, Pop and Surrealism could be attached - were never at the forefront of popular art movements in Australia. The focus therein was more on traditional landscape and abstract expressionism, with artists such as the Surrealist James Glesson and Pop artist Martin Sharp very much on the fringe as they pursued a more international style. Zakarauskas' point of view was most definitely beyond Australian shores, and most likely influenced in part by her Lithuanian heritage. This author, despite strenuous efforts, was never able to contact the artist in person, though the Art Gallery of New South Wales was successful in this, as part of hits Archie 100 Project during 2020, celebrating 100 years of the Archibald Prize (see below).
A detailed biography of Aldona Zakarauskas is to be found in the thesis Lithuanian Artists in Australia 1950-1990 (Kazokas 1992). It is based on extensive research and an interview recorded with the artist on 13 February 1988. Relevant biographical text is herein reproduced in full:
Painter and art lecturer Aldona Zakarauskas (O'Brien) was born in Kaunas on 8 December 1943, the third child of Balys and Ona (nee
Utiraite) Zakarauskas. In 1944 the parents fled with their four children to
West Germany. In 1949 they migrated to Australia and settled in Newcastle where
Balys Zakarauskas completed his work contract as an industrial worker at the BHP
steelworks. He later purchased a fruit orchard. After leaving Boolaroo Primary
School, Aldona attended the Newcastle Girls High School until 1958. Her best
subjects were Art, English and Geography. Art teachers Maggie Gilchrist and
Margaret Hughes fostered her artistic talent especially, she says, because she
was a migrant child. On completion of secondary study, Aldona entered the
National Art School in Newcastle, graduating in 1962. She married Phillip
O'Brien, an economics student, in the same year and their son Mark was born in
1963. From 1966 to 1970 Zakarauskas taught art at a number of high schools in
Sydney and at the National Art School, Newcastle. During this time she participated in several group exhibitions and held her first solo showing at the Anne Von Bertouch Galleries in Newcastle in 1970. A photograph from the opening shows Aldona and husband Phillip standing before one of her large Pop-influenced works.
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| Aldona and Phillip O'Brien, Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle, 1970. Source: Aroney 2019. |
In 1971 the family went to London
where Zakarauskas was one of only five successful overseas students selected
from two thousand applicants by the Royal College of Art. Her M.A. thesis,
'Design Symbols of the Art Deco Period' was completed in 1974. While overseas,
she travelled extensively through Europe and the United Kingdom visiting art galleries and museums. On returning to
Australia in 1975 she was appointed senior lecturer in the School of Visual and
Performing Arts at the Newcastle College of Advanced Education (now part of the
University of Newcastle). During college vacations she travelled a number
of times to art centres in Europe and Asia. After she and her husband were
divorced in 1981 she went to New York, but says that because of her unhappiness
she did not make full use of her time there. It was not until later study
trips to the USA that she developed a liking for American experimental and
dynamic art and for what she saw as the optimistic American way of life.
She teaches at the University of Newcastle under her married name; paints under her maiden name. Zakarauskas endeavours through art to satirise the futility of contemporary society. Her work is painted collage, influenced by Cubism and Dada, but mainly by Max Ernst, b. 1891 and Jean Dubuffet, b. 1901. It is based on figurative arrangement with symbolic connotations and references to history, religion and Zakarauskas's own childhood experiences. Without malice or rancour, but neither light heartedly nor trivially, she enjoys, she says, camouflaging the collages with paint, teasing the viewer about her technique. She rejects conventional notions of beauty and traditional perspective and composition. Her art, more conceptual than perceptual, uses stereotypes to create something new and unexpected but always retaining an intentional ambiguity in technique as well as in meaning. She states:
She teaches at the University of Newcastle under her married name; paints under her maiden name. Zakarauskas endeavours through art to satirise the futility of contemporary society. Her work is painted collage, influenced by Cubism and Dada, but mainly by Max Ernst, b. 1891 and Jean Dubuffet, b. 1901. It is based on figurative arrangement with symbolic connotations and references to history, religion and Zakarauskas's own childhood experiences. Without malice or rancour, but neither light heartedly nor trivially, she enjoys, she says, camouflaging the collages with paint, teasing the viewer about her technique. She rejects conventional notions of beauty and traditional perspective and composition. Her art, more conceptual than perceptual, uses stereotypes to create something new and unexpected but always retaining an intentional ambiguity in technique as well as in meaning. She states:
I use other people's images -- stereotype of
advertisements -- in order to create my own visual language ... My work is
concerned with the synthesis of oil paint, collage and various media. I aim to
maintain a balance between the use of a printed image and recognisable images
from glossy magazines like Vogue and the actual texture of papers or objects, veiling
them with paint to create a mystery between what is collage and what is paint.
(Diversities, 1980)
Her work has undergone both compositional and thematic
changes since the sixties when she was concerned mainly with impressions of
events, often homely, generally without comment. Compositions of this period
are often tight with dark, often gloomy, colours, e.g. Childhood Dreams, 1966
(ill. 465).
This is a claustrophobic arrangement, drawing on the artist's childhood experiences and the frightening realms of the mind. The hallucinatory quality is emphasised by the crowding of the characters and their unification within the space by the use of grey-blue monochrome. Only two or three objects are taken from real life; the rest of the picture consists of indefinable zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. From her earliest paintings there is often a suggestion of continuity and timelessness, e.g. Childhood Memories of the National Dance, 1969 (ill. 466). Here, the swirling skirts, sashes and plaits of the dancers create a strong sense of vigorous movement. The costumes, rather than being faithful ethnographic reproductions, give a generalised, colourful impression. During the seventies sociological, psychological, religious and cultural comment began to be included in her work. Compositions of this time show more space, circular and semi-circular grouping of subjects and lighter and brighter colours. One example is City Ladies Looking Down on Country Ladies, 1970 (ill. 467). Here, the subject matter is executed within a tondo superimposed on a colourful, geometrically patterned square which in turn is framed by a rectangle which is a simpler, darker geometric motif. The tondo is divided in two: the lower half is filled with vivacious female dancers dressed in folk costumes and waving happily; the upper section has a group of more subdued women dressed in plainer gowns. The picture may be interpreted merely as the title suggests; however, medieval framing, the division into two parts -- terrestrial and celestial -- and the distinction of colours, reinforce the notion of angels looking down on worldly folk. Thus it can be seen that Zakarauskas's wit is expressed and accessible on several levels. Many paintings of this same period tend to satirise religious rites and images, e.g. For the Immaculate Conception and Coronation of the Virgin, both 1971, and Ladies to the Ceremonial Holy Water, 1970 (ill. 468). The last can be read either as a satirical statement on the advertising industry and fashion or as a reference to the way in which modern swimming carnivals can be seen to equate with baptismal ceremonies of earlier times. The painting King's Road Lady Parade, 1973, also has strong religious connotations. Ladies parading in a fashion show are seen as analogous to a procession of saints, the central section of the octagonal picture representing the dome of a Byzantine cathedral. Much of Zakarauskas' artistic comment is purely social, e.g. Ladies' Choir near the Barren Tree, 1974 (ill. 469). Here she implies an analogy between a barren tree and the activities of the women. Her work of the eighties has freer composition, fewer objects within each painting and lighter colours, e.g. Pyramid, Palms and High Heels, 1980 (ill. 470). Here, the immovable and permanent are confronted by the transient and momentary. This is highlighted in the juxtaposition of the stability and sobriety of the pyramid and the frantic rush of the tourists. Although the technique is reminiscent of Miro and of post-cubist collage, Zakarauskas imbues her work with an intensity of her own.
Aldona traveled extensively throughout
Asia, Europe and the U.K. between 1971-74 and again in Europe and the
U.S.A. during 1980-81, visiting major collections as well as meeting and
spending time with artists such as William de Kooning, Peter Blake,
John Piper and David Hockney. Aldona is represented in numerous private
collections
in Australia & overseas such as Artbank, the British Embassy,
Canberra, Newcastle Regional Gallery, the University of Newcastle,
Margaret Carnegie Collection U.S.A., the Lithuanian Art Museum in
Vilnius, Lithuania, and the Lake Macquarie Council Art Collection. She
has received a number of awards including the
Mirror Waratah Special Award Sydney and A.S.T.C. Special Scholarship, Sydney. She also
received a
major grant from the University of Newcastle to carry out her
installation “Rooms of Invisible Emotion”.
Aldona Zakarauskas, Childhood Dreams, 1966.
This is a claustrophobic arrangement, drawing on the artist's childhood experiences and the frightening realms of the mind. The hallucinatory quality is emphasised by the crowding of the characters and their unification within the space by the use of grey-blue monochrome. Only two or three objects are taken from real life; the rest of the picture consists of indefinable zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. From her earliest paintings there is often a suggestion of continuity and timelessness, e.g. Childhood Memories of the National Dance, 1969 (ill. 466). Here, the swirling skirts, sashes and plaits of the dancers create a strong sense of vigorous movement. The costumes, rather than being faithful ethnographic reproductions, give a generalised, colourful impression. During the seventies sociological, psychological, religious and cultural comment began to be included in her work. Compositions of this time show more space, circular and semi-circular grouping of subjects and lighter and brighter colours. One example is City Ladies Looking Down on Country Ladies, 1970 (ill. 467). Here, the subject matter is executed within a tondo superimposed on a colourful, geometrically patterned square which in turn is framed by a rectangle which is a simpler, darker geometric motif. The tondo is divided in two: the lower half is filled with vivacious female dancers dressed in folk costumes and waving happily; the upper section has a group of more subdued women dressed in plainer gowns. The picture may be interpreted merely as the title suggests; however, medieval framing, the division into two parts -- terrestrial and celestial -- and the distinction of colours, reinforce the notion of angels looking down on worldly folk. Thus it can be seen that Zakarauskas's wit is expressed and accessible on several levels. Many paintings of this same period tend to satirise religious rites and images, e.g. For the Immaculate Conception and Coronation of the Virgin, both 1971, and Ladies to the Ceremonial Holy Water, 1970 (ill. 468). The last can be read either as a satirical statement on the advertising industry and fashion or as a reference to the way in which modern swimming carnivals can be seen to equate with baptismal ceremonies of earlier times. The painting King's Road Lady Parade, 1973, also has strong religious connotations. Ladies parading in a fashion show are seen as analogous to a procession of saints, the central section of the octagonal picture representing the dome of a Byzantine cathedral. Much of Zakarauskas' artistic comment is purely social, e.g. Ladies' Choir near the Barren Tree, 1974 (ill. 469). Here she implies an analogy between a barren tree and the activities of the women. Her work of the eighties has freer composition, fewer objects within each painting and lighter colours, e.g. Pyramid, Palms and High Heels, 1980 (ill. 470). Here, the immovable and permanent are confronted by the transient and momentary. This is highlighted in the juxtaposition of the stability and sobriety of the pyramid and the frantic rush of the tourists. Although the technique is reminiscent of Miro and of post-cubist collage, Zakarauskas imbues her work with an intensity of her own.
This blog is a listing of some of Aldona Zakarauskas's artwork, focusing on that early period which is of most interest to this writer, but also limited by material available on public access. The listing not only includes works of art, but also historical photographs of relevance and reviews. Biographical notes and comments on the works are also interspersed throughout. As an art teacher rather than a professional artist whose livelihood was reliant upon sales, this perhaps explains the relative scarcity of Zakarauskas' work in the public domain, along with the lack of an online presence as one is used to with many modern day artists. Having worked substantially in the pre-digital age, Aldona's social media and online footprint is lacking. This blog is an effort to address that to a dregee and bring to notice the work of an Australian artist whose output is distinctive, possessing a truly international flavour.
Chronology
1962
Aldona Zakarauskas sketching before an elephant, Circus, Birdwood Park, Newcastle, 1962. Source: Aroney 2019.
Childhood Dreams, 1966. Oil and collage, 83 x 92 cm. Painting entered in the Sir John Sulman Prize competition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Illustrated: Kazokas 1992, Zakarauskas 1994.
The above photograph is one of a number of Aldona posted to a 2019 blog commemorating the reunion of students who attended the National Art School, Newcastle during the 1960s and early 1970s. The photograph of Aldona before an elephant was taken during her graduating year.
1965
1965
- Aldona was enrolled at the National Art School, Sydney, following on the receipt of a scholarship. At this point she began to exhibit publicly, most notably in the Young Contemporaries exhibition at the Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, both during that year and the following.
- Mirror [newspaper] Waratah Special Award, Sydney.
- ASTC (Associateship, Sydney Technical College) Special Scholarship, National Art School, Sydney, ?1965.
- Young Contemporaries exhibition, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, April 1965. Review: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 1965.
- Mirror [newspaper] Waratah Special Award, Sydney.
- ASTC (Associateship, Sydney Technical College) Special Scholarship, National Art School, Sydney, ?1965.
- Young Contemporaries exhibition, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, April 1965. Review: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 1965.
- Blue Circus, ink on paper, 6.5 x 9 cm in 20 x 23 cm frame. Auction: Lawsons, Sydney, 16 March 2022.
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| Blue Circus, ink on paper, 1965. |
1966
- Young Contemporaries exhibition, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, 28 April - 8 May 1966.
- Childhood Dreams, Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales. Finalist.
- Taught art at secondary schools in Sydney, 1966-70.
- Taught art at secondary schools in Sydney, 1966-70.
One reference notes that Aldona graduated from the National Art School in 1966, at which point it acquired Three Figure Composition, Aboriginal Group (Turner 2011). She was also a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales during 1966. Her entry, Childhood Dreams, was representative of her early work, using a combination of collage and oil paint to present largely figurative works with elements of surreal abstraction. Small elliptical faces and paper cutout bodies were a feature during this period, as was a muted palette.
[No image available]
Three figure composition, Aboriginal group, 1966. Oil on masonite, 91 x 122 cm. Collection: National Art School, Sydney. Reference: Turner 2011.
[No image available]
Study for My Clown, 1966. Collage and oil on canvas on board, 12.5 x 13.5 cm. Auction: Theodore Bruce, Sydney, 2016.
1967-8
- a number of works by Zakarauskas display a distinct British Pop art influence, with flat areas of paint, brightly coloured sections and the use of pop culture iconography. For example, Percentage Lady, 1967, is reminiscent in composition and application to Pauline Boty's 54321, 1962, with a red numeral 40 prominent amidst a collage of faces upon a grey background cut by a line of black, white and red.
Percentage Lady, August 1967. Oil and collage on board, 60 x 64 cm. Auctions: ? 1 July 1991; Lawsons 29 October 2016; Davidsons, Sydney, 2016, The Estate of the late Nicholas Packham; Lawsons, 25 October 2018.
[No image available]
Ladies with Friendly Tiger, 1967. Oil and collage on board, signed lower right, 59.5 x 60 cm. Auction,
Childhood Memories of the National Dance [The Memories of Youth], 1967. Oil and collage, 83 x 91 cm. Collection: Lithuanian Art Museum. Illustrated Kazokas 1992.
[No image available]
Ladies with Friendly Tiger, 1967. Oil and collage on board, signed lower right, 59.5 x 60 cm. Auction,
Regimented Mr. Jones, January 1968. Oil and collage on board, 45 x 42cm, signed and dated lower left. Auction: Lawsons 23 February 2019.
The checkered dress, patterns of black and white lines and band of colour in Regimented Mr. Jones, 1968 are hallmarks of the work of pioneering British Pop artist Bridget Riley. The use of hands and arms painted in oil upon the collage is a common motif in the known works from 1968, including Don't Want to.
Don't Want to, February 1968. Oil and collage on board, 35 x 42 cm, signed and dated lower left. Auction: Lawsons 21 March 2019. Source: Author's collection.
The tension in this work is highlighted by the use of black in the presentation of figures and outlines, alongside the dominant male in the lower right with a painted palm brought to the fore, fending off danger. 1968 was a year of political tension in Europe and elsewhere, and perhaps Don't Want it, 1968, is a reflection of this. All the while during this phase Zakarauskas continued to develop the unique style as displayed in Childhood Dreams, 1966, characterised by compositions featuring a mass of small figures with elyptically shaped heads, and an overall abstraction reminiscent of the work of German Dada/Surrealist artist and pioneering exponent of collage Max Ernst. She returned to it in 1969 and continued to work in this manner through the early 1970s.
1969
Bride and Groom Ascending With Watching Guests, 1969. Oil and mixed media, 87.5 x 77.5 cm. Collection: Artbank.
Jewish Gentlemen to Synagogue, Regardless, 1969 [b/w photograph]. Oil, collage and mixed media, 83 x 92 cm. Reproduced: Zakarauskas 1994, Aroney 2019.
1970- taught painting at the National Art School, Newcastle, 1970-1.
Ladies With My Mother's Cow in Regimented Landscape, March 1970.
Oil, collage & mixed media on board, 70 x 92cm (framed). Auctions:
Davidson's, Sydney, and Bargain Hunt Auctions, 3 September 2016;
Lawson's October 2020. Author's collection.
City Ladies Looking Down on Country Ladies, 1970. Oil, 71 x 71 cm. Collection: Lake Macquarie Shire Council. Illustrated: Kazokas 1992.
Ladies to the Ceremonial Holy Water, 1970. Oil, 120 x 90 cm. Illustrated Kazokas 1992.
- Aldona Zakarauskas exhibition, Von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle, May 1970. First solo exhibition.
1971
- Lake Macquarie Art Award.
[No image available]
Immaculate Conception, 1971. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
Immaculate Conception, 1971. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
[No image available]
Coronation of the Virgin, 1971. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
Coronation of the Virgin, 1971. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
1972
- To Adelaide from Newcastle exhibition, Contemporary Art Society Gallery, Adelaide.
[No image available]
Lady After Sacre Coeur, Paris, 1972. Gouache, signed lower right, dated lower left, 16.5 x 12 cm. Auction: ?, 2006.
1973
Ladies Identifying The Unknown Insect at Cobham Common [UK], 1973. Oil and collage, 44cm x 44cm, signed and dated. Auction: Ewebanks, 2016.
[No image available]
King's Road Ladies Parade, 1973. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
[No image]
Grooms Lady Choice, 1973. Reference: Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, catalogue no. 1036.
Ladies Choir near the Barren Tree, 1974. Oil, 55 x 60 cm. Illustrated Kazokas 1992.
Pyramid, Palms and High Heels, 1980. Oil, 90 x 90 cm. Illustrated: Kazokas 1992.
The Romance Show - Exhibition Review 1985:
Thought Chairs, 1989 [b/w photograph]. Oil and collage, 100 x 100 cm. Illustrated Zakarauskas 1994.
Mood Indigo, 1989. Acrylic on board, 17.5 x 52 cm. Auction: Theodore Bruce, Sydney.
Creative Arts & Craft Art exhibition Opening, the
University of Newcastle, Australia - 1991. Photograph taken on the
occasion of the closing of the Creative Arts and Crafts course. Source: Living Histories @ UON. Aldona on the far right.
[No image available]
King's Road Ladies Parade, 1973. Reference: Kazokas 1992.
[No image]
Grooms Lady Choice, 1973. Reference: Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, catalogue no. 1036.
1974
- Aldona returns to Australia from an overseas tour and resumes teaching at the National Art School, Newcastle.
Ladies Choir near the Barren Tree, 1974. Oil, 55 x 60 cm. Illustrated Kazokas 1992.
1975
- appointed Senior Lecturer, Department of Art, Newcastle College of Advanced Education.
- Newcastle Artists: International Women's Year exhibition, Von
Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, 22 August - 14 September 1975.
1980
- Figurative Artists of the Hunter Region exhibition, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, 16 October - 9 November 1980. Catalogue available.
1984
- The Romance Show, Lake Macquarie Community Gallery, 1984.
1985
- The Romance Show, Canberra School of Art Gallery, February 1985.
The Romance Show - Exhibition Review 1985:
Romance is certainly in the air at a new exhibition at Artspace
this week. It was put together with assistance from the Visual Arts Board by
Seva Frangos, the former director of the Lake Macquarie Community Gallery, and
includes 11 artists which were specially commissioned to execute a work on the
theme of romance. Good ideas notwithstanding, the results hardly justify the
expense of the exhibition. The Romance Show, as the exhibition is called,
consists mainly of works which parody the idea of romantic love and which are
intended as a biting satire on social values. However, it takes little wit or
talent to send up the glossy magazine version of true romance - especially if
you resort to using the same sloppy art styles that you find in teenage love
comics. Yet this is the approach adopted - with variations - by such artists as
Merilyn Fairskye, in a five-part painting called Shortcut to Romance; Maria
Kozic, in four screen prints which ape the family album snapshot; Juan Davila,
in his Photo Romance and Photographic Memory featuring "candid "
prison photographs; and Therese Kenyon in her Typhoon in a Glass, which is full
of ruby-red hearts and is obviously intended as a send up of romantic travel
posters. Only Kirsten Uhrig and Aldona Zakarauskas are a little bit more
imaginative. The former is showing five paintings in tropical colours which are
full of claw-toothed figures and express extreme sexual aggressiveness, while
the latter is represented by a series of dark mixed media works which are
mood-evoking and quite poetic. (Barron 1985)
1986
- Diversities, Holdsworth Contemporary Galleries, Sydney.
Diversities - Exhibition Review 1986:
Diversities, an exhibition of painting, sculpture,
photography and printmaking at Holdsworth Contemporary Galleries, is the work
of 12 Hunter region artists who teach at the Newcastle College of Advanced
Education. Although the show addresses the varied cultural life of a most
complex and interesting region, it also reads like a "coming out" by
one of the State's art institutions. Gordon Rintoul's industrial landscapes,
with their smouldering Kandinsky-like towers, make reference to the visual and
economic scene of Newcastle. Most other exhibitors, however, pursue quite
private or idiosyncratic concerns. Garry Jones for example, uses the
"I" sign of the ego to confront some of the formal and symbolic
conundrums of modernism, while Frank Celtlan directs a steady and
self-reflective gaze towards naked torsos seen among the accoutrements of their
personal spaces. Aldona Zakarauskas similarly claims an autobiographical
reference in her collaged fragments of bodies and accessories. The exhibition is big and
uneven, but includes work that ought to be seen and tested in contexts other than
a regional survey. (Anonymous 1985)
1989
1990
- Four Fold, Lake Macquarie Art Gallery. Exhibition by staff of
the School of Visual and Performing Arts, University of Newcastle.
Opened 30 June 1990.
1991
1992
- Erotic Newcastle, Gallery 249. Works by a variety of artists. May 1992.
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| Aldona Zakarauskas 1994 |
Artist Statement, 1994: It is no accident that the artist permanently resides in
his or her own reserve, where physical and mental layers of experience accumulate.
I maintain a delicate balance between the use of 'cut-outs' of recognisable
images from glossy women's magazines like Vogue, tracings and appropriated
images and actual textures of papers or objects, veiling them with oil paint to
create a mystery between what is collage and what is paint. I select images
that reflect my personal response to fragments of childhood memories from other
artists' work, film, videos, magazines and advertising, interweaving them with
present personal associations in a deliberate randomness with an undercurrent
of sexuality. The work of several writers has begun to re-shape my visual language;
in particular, Kathy Acker. She uses 'appropriation' in her writings. I've applied
a similar use of collage images in a visual way. (Zakarauskas 1994)
1994
1995
- Eveolution: An exhibition of women's art from the Newcastle
Regional Art Gallery collection, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, 8 March
1995.
1998
- Steelworks: a regeneration. University of Newcastle, Faculty of Art and
Design Gallery, May-June 1998.
1999
- Aldona
Zakarauskas and Christine Ross, University of Newcastle, School of Fine Art Gallery, May 1999.
- Affirmation - Graham Gilchrist, Vlas é Nikoleski, Christine Ross
and Aldona Zakarauskas, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, November 1999.
Affirmation - Exhibition Review, 1999: Landscape is unexpected as inspiration for Aldona Zakarauskas.
Her assemblages are now reduced to a two-strand horizon, incorporating
the muted hues of Tuscan twilight: earth browns, terra cotta, lots of
blues. It could hardly be more minimal. (Stowell 1999)
2000
- Lady of the Various Sorrows, exhibition of large scale, mixed
media paintings in the form of an installation, by Aldona Zakarauskas
and Christine Sanders, School of Fine Art Gallery, University of
Newcastle, May 2000.
2002
- Aldona Zakarauskas, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery (Stowell 2002).
2003
- Signifiers of cultural maturity
proliferate. Newcastle's first home-grown art auction takes place tomorrow
at the Capri Plaza Hotel. It is the initiative of Aldona O'Brien who, as
Aldona Zakarauskas, was a well-known painter and teacher. She feels there is
now a market for regular sales and resales, with an emphasis on younger
artists (Stowell 2003).
2006
- A new initiative shows the [Tighes Hill] gallery offering a number of works for resale on consignment. These include one of Aldona Zakarauskas's fractured collages, highly sought after in the 1970s (Stowell 2006).
2009
- Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery (Stowell 2009).
2014
- Instagram posting by Dianne Beevers at The Hill [Newcastle], New South Wales: The quilted wall continues, reflecting references to the jeweller who
changed this building c.WW1 a painting by local artist Aldona
Zakarauskas bought decades ago: 'City Ladies Looking Down Upon Country
Ladies' while the triangles inform geodesic domes and patchwork quilts
of that period. So no mere wall treatment, this work is resonant with
meaning.
2016
- The Quiet - Aldona Zakarauskas, AWS Exhibition Space, Newcastle, 1-10 July 2016. Solo exhibition.
------------------------
References
Adams, Bruce, A Fresh Interrogation of the Natural World, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 1986. Review of Diversities exhibition.
Aroney, Barbara, 50yrs Reunion Newcastle Art School [blog], January 2019. Available URL: https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/89821388.
Art Systems Wickham, The Quiet - Aldona Zakarauskas [webpage], AWS Exhibition Space, Newcastle, 1-10 July 2016. Available URL: https://www.art-systems-wickham.com/aldona-zakauraskas.
Barnes, John, Finalists decided for our big art prizes, Newcastle Herald, 8 July 2016.
Barron, Sonia, Varieties of romance, The Canberra Times, 2 August 1985. Review of The Romance Show, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Action.
Contemporary Art Society of South Australia, To Adelaide from Newcastle: four artists - Dawn Burston, Christine Ross, Barry Shepherd, Aldona Zakarauskas, 1972, 1 sheet.
Figurative Artists of the Hunter Region:Francis Celtlan, Michael Goode, Birgitte Hansen-Chawner, John Montefiore, Max Watters, Aldona Zakarauskas, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, 1980, 25p.
Germaine, Max, Artists and Galleries of Australia, Craftsman House, 1990, 826p.
-----, A dictionary of women artists of Australia, Craftsman House, 1991, 486p.
Kazokas, Genovaite Elena, Lithuania Artists in Australia, 1950-1990, Ph.D. thesis, University of Tasmania, 1992, 420p. Available URL: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17346/2/whole-kazokas-thesis.pdf.pdf.
National Art School, Summer Exhibition, National Art School, London, 1973.
Short, Anna, The Galleries - The Romance Show, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February 1985.
Stowell, Jill, Teachers' turn to display their wares, Newcastle Herald, 30 October 1999.
-----, Simply Sublime, Newcastle Herald, 2 February 2002.
-----, Reflective Power 30 Years On, Newcastle Herald, 31 May 2003.
-----, Driven to Abstraction, Newcastle Herald, 29 July 2006.
-----, Lake Treasures, Newcastle Herald, 4 April 2009.
Taskunas, Algimantas P., Lithuanians in Australia, fifthfleet.net [webpage], 6 January 2008. Available URL: http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/82905/20131113-0801/www.fifthfleet.net/pb/wp_87108f38/wp_87108f38.html.
Turner, Noele Maureen, The National Art School - A Social History from 1833 to 1973 and a Catalogue of the Archival Art Collection, Ph.D. thesis, Griffith University, September 2011, volume 1, 448p.
Zakarauskas, Aldona, Aldona Zakarauskas (O'Brien), Design Symbols of the Art Deco Period, M.A.(Painting) thesis, National Art School, London, 1974.
-----, Lithuanian Papers: Annual Journal of the Lithuanian Studies Society of the University of Tasmania, volume 8, 1994, 30-33. Available URL: https://lithuanianpapers.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/lithuanian-papers-vol-8-1994.pdf.
Acknowledgements
In the compilation of this list I would like to thank Nijolė Nevčesauskienė of the Lithuanian Art Museum for assistance in describing a copy of the work in the collection.
Last updated: 26 April 2023
Aroney, Barbara, 50yrs Reunion Newcastle Art School [blog], January 2019. Available URL: https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/89821388.
Art Systems Wickham, The Quiet - Aldona Zakarauskas [webpage], AWS Exhibition Space, Newcastle, 1-10 July 2016. Available URL: https://www.art-systems-wickham.com/aldona-zakauraskas.
Barnes, John, Finalists decided for our big art prizes, Newcastle Herald, 8 July 2016.
Barron, Sonia, Varieties of romance, The Canberra Times, 2 August 1985. Review of The Romance Show, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Action.
Contemporary Art Society of South Australia, To Adelaide from Newcastle: four artists - Dawn Burston, Christine Ross, Barry Shepherd, Aldona Zakarauskas, 1972, 1 sheet.
Figurative Artists of the Hunter Region:Francis Celtlan, Michael Goode, Birgitte Hansen-Chawner, John Montefiore, Max Watters, Aldona Zakarauskas, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, 1980, 25p.
Germaine, Max, Artists and Galleries of Australia, Craftsman House, 1990, 826p.
-----, A dictionary of women artists of Australia, Craftsman House, 1991, 486p.
Kazokas, Genovaite Elena, Lithuania Artists in Australia, 1950-1990, Ph.D. thesis, University of Tasmania, 1992, 420p. Available URL: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17346/2/whole-kazokas-thesis.pdf.pdf.
National Art School, Summer Exhibition, National Art School, London, 1973.
Short, Anna, The Galleries - The Romance Show, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February 1985.
Stowell, Jill, Teachers' turn to display their wares, Newcastle Herald, 30 October 1999.
-----, Simply Sublime, Newcastle Herald, 2 February 2002.
-----, Reflective Power 30 Years On, Newcastle Herald, 31 May 2003.
-----, Driven to Abstraction, Newcastle Herald, 29 July 2006.
-----, Lake Treasures, Newcastle Herald, 4 April 2009.
Taskunas, Algimantas P., Lithuanians in Australia, fifthfleet.net [webpage], 6 January 2008. Available URL: http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/82905/20131113-0801/www.fifthfleet.net/pb/wp_87108f38/wp_87108f38.html.
Turner, Noele Maureen, The National Art School - A Social History from 1833 to 1973 and a Catalogue of the Archival Art Collection, Ph.D. thesis, Griffith University, September 2011, volume 1, 448p.
Zakarauskas, Aldona, Aldona Zakarauskas (O'Brien), Design Symbols of the Art Deco Period, M.A.(Painting) thesis, National Art School, London, 1974.
-----, Lithuanian Papers: Annual Journal of the Lithuanian Studies Society of the University of Tasmania, volume 8, 1994, 30-33. Available URL: https://lithuanianpapers.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/lithuanian-papers-vol-8-1994.pdf.
Acknowledgements
In the compilation of this list I would like to thank Nijolė Nevčesauskienė of the Lithuanian Art Museum for assistance in describing a copy of the work in the collection.
Last updated: 26 April 2023
Michael Organ
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