"Autoritratto"

 

"Autoritratto"

Kerry Wright

1998

Oil on Canvas

"Portrait of Adjunct Professor Kathy Baker, AM"

 

"Portrait of Adjunct Professor Kathy Baker, AM"

[LOST]

Kerry Wright

ca. 1995

Oil on Canvas

In the mid-1990s I was commissioned to paint the portrait of my then boss, Kathy Baker, by her mother. Kathy tells me the painting went to her sister following the death of their mother and that her sister has also since died. Alas, I neglected to photograph the painting for inclusion in my catalogue raisonne prior to its release and now it cannot be located. I have requested of Kathy that it be gifted to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, should it ever be found. The National Portrait Gallery already has in its collection a painting by my Great-Great-Grandfather. I would be honoured to have one of my paintings join his. And as Kathy has since been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her distinguished career in nursing, her portrait is certainly eligible for inclusion within that illustrious collection. 

"George"

 

"George"

Kerry Wright 

2013

Oils on Canvas

25cm x 20cm

A constant throughout my life has been my most cherished friend, George. He was born at Geita, Tanzania, of Dutch Boer heritage, and attended the Hill School at Eldoret in Kenya, before migrating to Australia with his family aboard the S S Galileo Galilei from Aden. After serving in the Royal Australian Navy, George settled in Sydney, where he and I met one bright, sunny, Saturday afternoon over fifty years ago, in the home of mutual friends at Long Reef on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

"The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila"

 

"The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila"

Kerry Wright 

1998

Oils on Canvas

25cm x 20cm

"Study for Portrait of Kevin"

 

"Study for Portrait of Kevin"

Kerry Wright

2023

Graphite on Cartridge Paper

64cm x 45cm

"Ave Antinoe"

 

"Ave Antinoe"

Kerry Wright

1984

Oils on Canvas

90cm x 60cm

Dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous.

"A la recherche du temps perdu"

 

"A la recherche du temps perdu"

Kerry Wright

2000

Oils on Canvas

25cm x 20cm

"In the Midnight Brightly"

 

"In the Midnight Brightly"

Kerry Wright

2001

Oils on Canvas

25cm x 20cm

"Daniel in a Landscape"

 

"Daniel in a Landscape"

Kerry Wright

1987

Conte Pastel and Ink on Paper

18cm x 13cm

"Fabian LoSchiavo"

 

"Fabian LoSchiavo"

[Double Portrait]

Kerry Wright

1993

Oils on Canvas

183cm x 122cm (6ft x 4ft)

Fabian LoSchiavo (1949-2023) was a culturally significant, legendary, iconic gay Australian, at the height of his fame when he agreed to sit for me to paint his portrait in 1993. It was entered in the 1994 Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Fabian precisely complied with the provisions for entry into the Archibald Prize, in his capacity as Mother Inferior of the Sydney Chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Alas, it was not shortlisted. Instead, it was entered into the 1994 OutArt Exhibition as part of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras festivities that year. The opening night was a glittering occasion with Fabian in attendance in full habit, where he and his portrait were received with warm approval and applause. 

"Vale Diana"

“Vale Diana”

Kerry Wright

1997

Oils on Canvas

120cm x 90cm (4ft x 3ft)

My tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, painted shortly after her death.

"Tehuti Transcendent"

“Tehuti Transcendent”

Kerry Wright

1997

Oils on Canvas

210cm x 120cm (7ft x 4ft)

To be gay back in the 1980s and 1990s was to live in constant terror of falling victim to a disease that would lead to an agonizing, disfiguring and premature death. We all became familiar with such exotic and bizarre expressions as “seroconvert”, a euphemism for “your death warrant has been signed and your execution imminent”. And we came to know all about “T-cells” and how many one should possess in order to survive. It was a time of considerable anxiety and of great sorrow. Many bright and beautiful young lives, filled to overflowing with exuberance and hope and promise and love, were snuffed out prematurely throughout that sad time.

In 1994 an excellent, albeit distressing and tragically poignant exhibition was held at the National Gallery of Australia. It was titled “Don’t Leave Me This Way – Art in the Age of AIDS”. After visiting the exhibition, I was inspired to create artwork of my own featuring the issue of living in a time when plague had descended upon the land.

In this large work, “Tehuti Transcendent”,  I have drawn upon my background in calligraphy to create a swirling vortex of gyrating calligraphic lines surrounding a central crucible within the painting’s composition, in which a portal has opened. From within that portal, a feather has emerged. Attached to the feather is a standard parcel label onto which is inscribed the letter “T” in calligraphic script. The “T” stands for “T-cells”. The more T-cells you have, the more likely it is that you will survive. The tag is tied to the feather with a red AIDS ribbon. The feather floats arbitrarily upon the thermals within the vortex, signifying randomly whether its victims will live when it rises or perish when it descends.

The title of the painting, “Tehuti Transcendent”, relates to the ibis-headed, ancient Egyptian god, Tehuti (aka Thoth). Tehuti is significantly a lunar deity with a highly complex cult. He has many titles, attributes and functions. For the purpose of this painting, however, he is specifically referred to as the god who gave the gift of hieroglyphs (calligraphy) to the ancient Egyptians. It also relates to his capacity to act as intermediary between life and death, good and evil, this world and the next, and thus transcending each.

“Tehuti Transcendent” was entered in the Sulman Prize in 1998, but not chosen for hanging.

"Gloria in excelsis David"

"Gloria in excelsis David"

Kerry Wright

1996

Oils on Canvas

120cm x 90cm (4ft x 3ft)

This large abstract was commissioned by friends, David and Craig. They had moved to a smart city apartment here in Sydney and were keen to establish their own contemporary art collection. I had previously painted David’s portrait and they were looking to acquire a bright, exuberant abstract, which portrayed aspects of their individual personalities and also their life together as a couple. That was my brief. I have been interested in calligraphy from an early age. During the 1980s-1990s, I ran my own calligraphy business as a sideline. I counted several academic institutions and hospitals amongst my clientele, primarily engraving graduands'  names onto academic certificates and diplomas. The advent of the computer with its many and varied font types put an end to that. I approached David and Craig’s commission by way of my background in calligraphy. The bold, swirling black lines, which dominate the composition, spell out their intertwined names, albeit cryptically. As for the title, “Gloria in excelsis David”, it is a play on the words of the Gloria, from the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. A tribute to David’s Irish ancestry, as well as to his cheeky, impious sense of humour.

 

"Jim at Dusk"

"Jim at Dusk"

Kerry Wright

1995

Oils on Canvas

61cm x 46cm (24in x 18in)

"Ave Atque Vale"

“Ave Atque Vale” 

(Hail & Farewell)

Kerry Wright, 1995

Oils on Canvas

120cm x 90cm (4ft x 3ft)

I painted “Ave Atque Vale” (Hail and Farewell) shortly after the death of my dear friend, Andy. Andy was a fun-loving, active, out-there kinda guy, with a stereotypically Italian exuberance and love of life. We met not long after he relocated to Australia from his home town of Vicenza in Italy’s Veneto region, not far from Venice. We soon became firm friends. It was the 1970s and we were both in our 20s. In a gay scene not then known for its macho role models, Andy really did stand out from the crowd with his handsome, smouldering Italian good looks and genuinely unaffected masculine demeanour. Heads would literally turn when he entered a room and he had no trouble in winning hearts all over town. Whilst studying to become a registered nurse at Sydney’s Mater Misericordiae Hospital, he took on part-time work at the Midnight Shift bar located within Sydney’s gay ghetto. I can still so vividly picture him behind the bar, surrounded by a clutch of effete, giggling admirers, all fluttering their eyelashes in his direction, in an endeavour to capture his attention. It was probably during this period of Andy’s life, in the early 1980s, that he seroconverted. Following graduation, he worked as a registered nurse at various health facilities throughout Australia, before ultimately succumbing to the virus in November 1993. His ashes were subsequently returned to his family in Italy.  I wanted to paint a picture dedicated to Andy and this image emerged as I set about that task. The figure depicted is intended to represent Andy’s spiritual essence at the time of his death and does not bear any physical resemblance to him as he appeared in life. In the execution of this work, I was inspired significantly by Kahlil Gibran’s beautiful words:

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?” 

"Ave Atque Vale" (Detail)

“Ave Atque Vale” (Detail)

Kerry Wright, 1995

Oils on Canvas

Original 120cm x 90cm (4ft x 3ft)

See original above.

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

Preliminary Study

Full Face

 Kerry Wright

1993

Indian ink and charcoal on cartridge paper

55cm x 42cm

Preliminary drawing executed prior to completion of the final work in oils on canvas.

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

Preliminary Study

Three-quarter Face

Kerry Wright

1993

Indian ink and charcoal on cartridge paper

55cm x 42cm

Preliminary drawing executed prior to completion of the final work in oils on canvas.

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

"Mother M. Fabian LoSchiavo, OPI"

Preliminary Study

Left Profile

Kerry Wright

1993

Indian ink and charcoal on cartridge paper

55cm x 42cm

Preliminary drawing executed prior to completion of the final work in oils on canvas.

"The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa"

"The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa"

Kerry Wright

1992

Oils on Canvas

120cm x 90cm (4ft x 3ft)

It was in 1992 that I painted this image of Saint Teresa in ecstasy, the year following my mother's death. The subject matter of the painting continues my obsession with Saint Teresa and her mystical tryst with the amorous, arrow-wielding angel. The heavily layered impasto paint is applied within a strict structure, reminiscent of ecclesiastical stained glass. Saint Teresa was a cloistered Carmelite nun of the Spanish Middle Ages. The Carmelites are a contemplative Marian order of the Catholic Church, their primary object of devotion being the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this reason, I incorporated two mother and child images within the composition of the painting. One is a traditional, devotional image of the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) and the other is an image of my mother and I, taken from a family photograph. I was in a state of deep anguish and mourning for my recently deceased mother when this picture was painted. It was no accident that the two mother and child images directly associate my own beloved mother with the Blessed Virgin Triumphant in Majesty. In fact, I did so deliberately.