News:
Oxley continues to have a distinguished career of awards and achievements. His ability is breathtaking, covering almost every medium according to his chosen subject. His commitment to his art is evident in this new exhibition, as he demonstrates working from the true fundamentals of drawing skills and tailored materials to create extraordinarily captivating results.
These works show how the artist converts the image into art, often with just a few 'simple' strokes of his mink-tail brushes (the mink salvaged from an abandoned fur coat) dipped in inks he has also ground and prepared himself. The reduction of a subject to its essence with a few marks, enables the viewer to share the vision of the artist. These moments on the paper are expertly completed stories.
Oxley has been selected from over 400 entries to be one of 40 finalists in the 2011 Sunshine Coast Art Prize (SCAP). The exhibition will be held at the Caloundra Regional Gallery from 6 July to 11 September. This year the award will be judged by Maura Reilly, curator of Global Feminism and newly appointed Professor of Art Theory, Queensland College of Art.
Oxley's entry "Moments of Insight" is a metaphor of those moments when we have an epiphany within our thoughts about something concerning us. The shaped fragments within the image represent those moments when we recognise existent relationships or create new bridges from one thing to another. By joining seemingly unconnected ideas, thoughts or things in the material world or our deepest personal "inner world" liberates us from a conventional vision of all around and within us.
Oxley has been invited to participate in the Tatteralls landscape art prize this year, and is exhibiting an artwork titled "Murray River Gums". The opening night cocktail party is held on September 7th, and then the exhibition moves to Waterfront Place in Brisbane on September 10th.
"Murray Gums" was inspired by Oxley's younger years having witnessed the slow degradation of the Murray River over the years. This image deliberately references the other "Murray", the indigenous people who lived along it's banks over many centuries. The stark linear patterns he has used in this image are influenced by the geometric patterns he recalls, carved into the trunk of a living Red Gum near Echuca. The "wood-cut" effect of this black and white method was the way Oxley wanted to convey his concerns for these trees and the grand old Murray River
Oxley was a finalist in the Jacaranda Drawing Award in 2010, being one of 46 artists chosen from 428 entries. "Eclipse of Survival" is now on tour for a year, the next showing will be at the Redcliffe Art Gallery 15 June 2011 - 16th July 2011. The tour concludes at the Gold Coast City Gallery in March 2012. For specific dates and locations http://www.graftongallery.nsw.gov.au
Oxley has been selected as a finalist in this year's Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award. The exhibition opens June 4th until June 26 2010. Oxley's entry "Dolly Bag" can be found on the following link, with other finalists