Bring it on
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
Here I go again
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
I run by night
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
Is it all worth it?
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 110 cm
POA
Keep it up as much as you can
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
Life wasn't meant to be easy
Acrylic on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
She takes nothing for granted
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
You have to help yourself
Oil on plywood
120 x 110 cm
POA
Poster boy 6
Oil on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Poster boy 1
Oil on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Poster boy 4
Acrylic on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Poster boy 9
Acrylic & mixed media on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Poster boy 14
Oil on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Poster boy 17
Oil on plywood
40 x 40 cm
POA
Life wasn't mean to be easy
"Life wasn't mean to be easy" is the third solo show from French-born artist Anne-France Fulgence (known as A.F.) based on her experiences with pig hunting dogs in remote outback NSW.
Her fascination with these fierce animals has, she admits, now become an addiction: "I admire their attitude, to go for this dangerous sport, without any hesitation, only sustained by the love of it, and their compulsion to fight. I have become as addicted as they are, for the joy and thrill I get in painting them."
The unwavering gaze of these dogs, resolutely staring back from large canvasses, may be unsettling or even confronting for some, but as Fulgence explains, things are not always what they seem: "I like to jolt the viewer, to challenge their preconceptions about these dogs. Particularly people in the city who have no first hand experience of them - they expect them to be ferocious and brutal, but they are not. They have an unconditional loyalty to their owners and they are quite placid. Until, of course, they hunt."
Fulgence captures her subjects after the hunt, still bloodied and sometimes wounded. She describes them: "The dogs are dressed as if for medieval battle, with leather harness and massive protective collars. I paint them at the end of their work, when they are utterly exhausted, but fully satisfied and contented with a job well done."
Since her first encounter with pig hunting dogs and their owners on a remote track in Whitecliff two years ago, Fulgence has shifted the focus in her work away from their place in the Australian landscape and environment to concentrating purely on the dogs themselves, as she explains: "My true passion is for the dogs and my new paintings show this. Only the dogs: their temperament, their characters, their lives."
These paintings are bold and provocative, and some viewers may flinch from the passionate and honest portrayal of such a brutal sport. But those who look closer may also see the tenderness, dignity and even a sense of humour that these dogs have, despite their dangerous and harsh lives. They know that life wasn't meant to be easy.
BIOGRAPHY
Education France
Australia
2007Currently working in printmaking studio at Wollongong West TAFE College
1985 Diplome du Centre Nationale d'Aerographie (airbrush)
1979 Baccalaureat, art plastic, Histoire de L'Art
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Prizes 2007 The Waverley Art Prize, Highly Commended The Alvaro Art Prize, Bowral District Society 2006 The Cowra Art Prize, finalist. Cowra Art Gallery, NSW The Pyree Tycan Art Prize, commended. BDSA Bowral, NSW The Alvaro Art Prize, commended. BDSA Bowral, NSW The Meroogal Art Prize, work selected for touring exhibition The Norvill Art Prize, finalist. RSL Hall, Murrurundi, NSW 2005 The Paddington Art Prize, national finalist. Marlene Antico Fine Art 120 Hardgrave St, Paddington. The ANL Maritime Art Prize, finalist. 717 Flinders Street, Docklands, 3008 2004 The Paddington Art Prize, national finalist. Marlene Antico Fine Art 120 Hardgrave St, Paddington. Norvill Art Prize: Highly Commended 9 works from the 22cm x 23cm series RSL Hall, Murrunrundi Meroogal Art Prize: Highly Commended Pastel on paper. Work selected for touring exhibition Nowra Shoalhaven Art Society Art Prize: Highly Commended Contemporary Section, oil on paper Nowra The Arthur Blinman Art Prize: Winner. Kangaroo Valley Landscape Oil on paper (22cm x 23cm). Kangaroo Valley. 2004/2003 Meroogal Art Prize, selected for touring exhibition. 4 works on paper. (35cm x 41cm each) Sydney, Bowral and Nowra 2003 The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, finalist. Oil on paper. (95cm x 70cm) South Australian Museum, Adelaide. Mosman Art Prize, finalist. Eucalyptus Leaf Series, oil on canvas. (170cm x 97cm) Mosman Art Gallery. Cowra Art Prize, finalist. Eucalyptus Leaf Series, oil on canvas. (170cm x 97cm) Cowra Art Gallery. 2002 Norvill Art Prize, finalist and commended. Kangaroo Valley Landscape, oil on canvas. (95cm x 70cm) RSL Hall, Murrurundi Mosman Art Prize, finalist. Seascape, oil on canvas. (99cm x 85cm) Mosman Art Gallery Cowra Art Prize, finalist. Eucalyptus Leaf Series, oil on metal. (210cm diameter) Cowra Art Gallery. Solo Exhibitions
Australia BARK! magazine, Volume 1, Number 5 Sept/ Oct 2006 Page 14 " Pig hunting dogs make a powerful series" South Coast Register Monday October 30 2006, page 11. 'Canines to canvas" Artist explores darker side of hunting dogs." Art Almanac, October 2006, page 224, Profiles. I've got a problem with the world today" |