Euan Macleod Essay
Published Wednesday, 2 January 2002The history of Australian painting places a significance on the artist's
depiction of the figures place in the landscape. Since the colonial period
artists have battlembol for historical and contemporary contexts.
Image: Ladder, 180 x 137cm; oil on canvas; 1998.
to the Colonial period it highlighted the pastoral and the romantic, which
evolved with the Heidelberg school where the figure and the landscape captured
the unique, impressionist painting techniques and captured dual populist
sentiments of the heroic figure in the bush (Tom Roberts) as well as the threat
one faced of living or settling in the bush (Frederick McCubbin).
The perception of identity is amplified in the depiction of the figure in the
landscape; and it offers a real and idealised account of Australia. This
treatment of such an archetypal representation of Australia has been explored
by a number of artists in an attempt to temper a particular perspective that
captures the Australian spirit. The artists associated with the Angry Penguins
movement (including Nolan, Tucker, Perceval and Boyd) attempted to forge a
modern identity that was uniquely Australian. Once more the relationship
between the landscape and figure and the images it produced became an integral
component of this art movement. Similarly contemporary Australian artists are
examining Australian identity in physical, cultural, spiritual, conceptual and
Euan Macleod confirms the historic temperament towards identity and a
reflection of living in Australia. Macleod examines the metaphor of the figure
in the landscape.
Macleod discusses how his work can be read on many levels and that he hesitates
to give a specific explanation to any work. He identifies the symbolic
properties of his work referring to the landscape as a psychological state of
existence; the figure articulates this personal investigation citing the figure
as both personal and symbolic. His work offers a development of the depiction
of the figure in the landscape; and his reference to Jungian psychology offers
a separate critical alternative to the orthodoxy within this genre.
Macleod explains that through the plasticity of the paint he can come to a
point to where there is a particular unity of feeling and aesthetic
" when it translates to, well either flesh or water or a surface, so that
when you're looking at it you're not looking at beautiful paint, you're looking
at matter - physicality."
The handling of the paint is as important to the artist as the subject matter,
and it is the competency and intuitive handling of the paint that give his work
its very strength. Getting convincing tonal variations in a composition,
according to Macleod is the most engaging quality in the process of painting,
highlighting the process of pushing the paint to reveal form and manifest
colour. His process is evolutionary in terms of how images evolve from the
canvas with the artist being assisted by producing preliminary studies to guide
his technique. His work is a constant dialogue between the technical
proficiency of his paint handling and the ideas that dwell within the theme of
the figure in the landscape.
Macleod received public recognition for his work by winning the Archibald Prize
for portraiture in 1998 with his portrait titled Head like a Hole. This
work typifies his approach to both the landscape and the figure; where both
take on a symbiotic relationship and where visually both features interact. The
dense tonal compositions leave unresolved ambiguous features leaving the viewer
to determine whether his work is an allegory of the psychological self, a
rhetorical image that harnesses the momentum of Australian landscape painting
or fictional glimpses.
Macleod understands the importance of developing a competency in the use of the
medium but also understands the conceptual potency that is generated in
depicting the figure in the landscape. He is an artist who locates himself in a
traditional genre which is fascinated with history and identity, yet offers a
critical interpretation by means of creating autonomous landscapes that are
general and never specific to a place or time.
Questions on the artist
Euan Macleod demonstrates how the relationship of the figure in the landscape
can mean much more than how it appears. Discuss his work in terms of using the
Subjective and Postmodern frame.
Critically analyse his work in terms of the use of symbols, signs and
metaphors. Explain the importance of the figure in the landscape.
How does Macleod handle his paint and what process of application does he use?
Trace the historical significance of the figure in the landscape found in
Select one of Macleod's paintings and analyse the work in terms of its
psychological significance and use of personal symbols.
Find out when Macleod won the Archibald Portrait Prize and give a critical
account of the work that won it.