Tag: News

  • Visions of the Dark Night

    Visions of the Dark Night

    Sunday, 1 October, 2023

    Night has fallen and all is still. Here in the silence; reality, dreams and memory weave into a haunting spectacle of sensations. And all at once, feelings of joy, fear and melancholy descend. I follow my senses and step into the water (I’ve always been drawn to the water, perhaps an innate connection to my Maldivian heritage). The ocean, with all its grandeur and mystery, brings with it escape, wonder, terror and excitement.

    For my new exhibition, VISIONS OF THE DARK NIGHT, I have continued my exploration of these moments of divinity, when time and distance fades away. Moments when I have felt like an explorer in a distant world, submerged in an alien landscape.

    VISIONS OF THE DARK NIGHT, an exhibition of new paintings by J Valenzuela Didi, will be on display at Traffic Jam Galleries in September 2023.

  • The Ghosts of Eldorado

    The Ghosts of Eldorado

    Tuesday, 2 May, 2023

    Hollywood has been on my mind. Cinema, icons, glitz and glamour; what is it that makes this place so alluring? It could be that we’re all searching; looking high and low for a place where we can feel content. In modern times, Hollywood has provided the promise of this freedom. Eventually however, we come to realise that this is just another illusion and life continues; perplexing and remote.

    It’s not a bad thing though. In fact, it’s a wonderful way to cope with the enormity of existence. But these moments of freedom are fleeting and forever accompanied by a detached sense of unease, impermanence and isolation. We find ourselves as ghosts in search of an unattainable existence. Explorers seeking a transcendent kingdom. The lost ghosts of Eldorado.

    For my new exhibition, THE GHOSTS OF ELDORADO, I have continued my exploration of moments of divinity, when time and distance fades away. Moments when I have felt like an explorer in a distant world, submerged in an alien landscape. This body of work delves into the search for sanctuary.

    THE GHOSTS OF ELDORADO, an exhibition of new paintings and sketches, will be on display at Lethbridge Gallery in April 2023.

  • Video of diagrams

    Video of diagrams

    28 March, 2021

  • Diagrams of the human condition

    Diagrams of the human condition

    28 March, 2021

    At the start of last year, I was in Palm Springs for an exhibition opening with a few of the other Lethbridge Gallery artists. Shortly thereafter, in February, I found myself in Sydney to create a portrait to enter into the Archibald Prize. It all seems so far away now, as by March we were in the depths of the pandemic (I’m certain I won’t be the only artist this year referring to 2020 in their artist statement).

    My 2020, from California to Sydney and back home to Brisbane, from limitless landscapes to lockdown, bustling cities to isolation, made me reflect on life. I decided I wanted the works for this exhibition to be a celebration of life. The journey of life, with all its highs and lows, and its great mysteries.

    I started by delving into the core of my artistic process. From my earliest memories I have been obsessed with blueprints and diagrams. As a child I would draw plans for various non-existent projects. I’ve come to realise that my artworks, in all their various themes, are an extension of this obsession.

    And so, I approached each work for this exhibition as a diagrammatic representation celebrating life. A documentation of existence, encapsulated in landscapes that observe the vastness of space and time, figures lost within sublime moments, and geometric arrangements that serve as silent mantras. These are all attempts at creating maps of the intangible.  Charting the soul with diagrams of the human condition.

  • Ballad of the daily pilgrimage

    Ballad of the daily pilgrimage

    18 September, 2020

    There is a place between dreams and reality where scenes of ghostly silence reveal the abstract beauty of life. Perhaps it is memory or imagination. For me it is the land of the daily pilgrimage.

    A place where signposts of human existence emerge as shrines that pay tribute to the passing of time. Forgotten factories, traffic signs and bridges, freed of purpose exist as divine monuments on a journey through this alien landscape.

    The new works in this exhibition tell tales of this voyage, they are a ballad of the daily pilgrimage.

    ‘Ballad of the Daily Pilgrimage” opens at Traffic Jam Galleries 18 September 2020.

  • A Symphony on Mars

    A Symphony on Mars

    14 November, 2019

    I recently read an article about sound recordings that NASA have made from the surface of Mars. The article described how scientists have been able to record a medley of sounds on Mars using an extraordinarily sensitive detector attached to the Mars lander. This made me think about how it is in the quietest of moments that we truly hear the splendour of life. Like the joy in the solitude found at home or in the backyard; in the confines of these four walls or fences there’s an escape from the mundane parts of reality. In the speed of this modern world, these quiet spaces are a blessing. In the isolation of these ephemeral moments the majestic symphony of life can be heard.

    ‘A Symphony on Mars’ a solo exhibition of recently completed works will be on display at Traffic Jam Galleries in Neutral Bay, Sydney 15 November to 6 December.

  • Echoes of a still life

    Echoes of a still life

    19 August, 2019

    In this modern world I can’t help but feel like a detached observer, confronted by recollections of past and present. Memories that appear as dreams of reality. Hazy illusions of life.
    In these memories, signposts of human existence emerge as shrines that pay tribute to the passing of time. Ageing houses, forgotten factories, traffic lights, clotheslines and fences at once tether us to daily routine while transforming into resolutely prevailing monuments, free of purpose.
    It is in the stillness of these ephemeral and fragmented moments that the impermanence of life is revealed. The isolation of the soul is laid bare in echoes of silence. The resounding echoes of a still life.

  • Feeling Gravity’s Pull

    Feeling Gravity’s Pull

    1 August, 2018

    I’ve always felt like an outsider. Life to me remains perplexing and remote. It seems to always be accompanied by a detached sense of unease, impermanence and isolation.

    When I create images, I want to capture my memories of moments when I felt like an explorer in this distant world, submerged in these alien landscapes. It is in urban scenes; backyards and streets, that I feel the greatest sense of discovery. Like in photographs of the Apollo missions, there is a stillness that exists in the moment of discovery. And in this stillness, all at once, the infinite and ephemeral can be felt.

    “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” is an exhibition of works that explore these fragmented moments of daily life.  The figures and objects that appear in these scenes a reminder that we are all celestial bodies floating in space, bound by gravity’s pull.

  • Shrine of the lost suburban

    Shrine of the lost suburban

    24 March, 2018

    Houses tell stories.  They stir memories of days long-forgotten.  They serve as functional monuments, solitary observers of the passing of time.  I’m intrigued by the lives of houses.  Old Queenslanders, Post-war homes, Fibros; each have their own distinct personalities, tales and ghosts.

    Every now and then I come across a house that resonates with me.  I’m not entirely sure why.  It might be because of some peculiar quirk that makes it stand out or the way the light hits it at a certain angle.  But I think it could also be more than that.  They may be reminding me of places hidden in my memory.  Dad was in town when I had completed the first piece for this exhibition.  When he looked at the painting he asked me if it was of our old house in Malaysia.  I had no idea what he was talking about (we left Malaysia when I was about two years old).  I have no conscious recollection of ever living in a house like the one in the painting, yet when I saw the house on a Paddington street I somehow felt a connection.  An attachment that always remains distant and out of reach.

    As more and more dwellings get demolished to make way for new developments the houses that remain gain all the more significance, becoming haunting reminders of the transience of life. The works in this exhibition explore the lives of these houses, shrines of the lost suburban.

  • Life below the 27th Parallel

    Life below the 27th Parallel

    26 August, 2017

    This town has an enchantingly peculiar atmosphere.

    If you look closely enough you can sense eternity in its unassuming streets and forgotten buildings. Where ghostly monoliths silently overlook dreamlike avenues.

    It seems apt that Brisbane was named after an astronomer. Exploring this city is akin to a journey of discovery. The city, at once familiar, can also feel like an alien landscape. Some of my earliest recollections are of the places depicted in this exhibition and yet they are still able to surprise me.

    This collection of works examines the unique characteristics of Brisbane, its urban landscapes observed like detached memories of a vivid dream. They document encounters with the city below the 27th Parallel: a place where the imaginary and real meet.

    “Life below the 27th Parallel,” an exhibition of my new paintings will be showing at Lethbridge Gallery, 136 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington from 26 August-6 September 2017.

  • Unfinished Pilgrimage

    Unfinished Pilgrimage

    I’ve never been good at conversations. I am getting better, I think.
    That is to say, I read all those self-help books and ‘motivational’ webpages, in an ongoing quest to be sociable. But in the end, I still struggle in social situations. Which has been a problem, because there’s something important I’ve wanted to talk to you about.
    It’s about the beauty of this journey we are on. The overwhelming beauty. And the sadness and sorrow that goes with it. Sadness that burns like a distant ember, captivating and yet ominously looming. A sadness that threatens to consume me, in the face of the unavoidable impermanence of life. And yet the beauty remains.
    Sometimes I get captured in this beauty. My mind remains in a place, a moment that has long since passed. They are everyday places, but ones that resonate a life’s journey. And I want to share them with you.
    So I thought I would start a dialogue. These paintings are our unfinished conversations, fragments from a life in transit. Remnants of our daily pilgrimage.
    “Unfinished Pilgrimage,” an exhibition of my new paintings will be showing at Lethbridge Gallery, 136 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington from 23-28 September 2016. The opening event will be on Saturday 24 September 2016, hope to see you there.

  • Lethbridge Art Auction

    Lethbridge Art Auction

    As you all know I show my artworks at Lethbridge Gallery in Paddington.

    The gallery is introducing Art Auctions as a regular feature of their year, where they will sell both secondary market artworks by well-known Australian artists and also a selection of gallery artists as well.

    My piece, Urban Spaceman, is included in the catalogue so if you’ve ever wanted to get something of mine and have been concerned about the price, now is the time to come along and take part in the auction.

    Even if you don’t want to buy something this time, it would be good for you to come along for what looks likely to be a fun and entertaining afternoon.

    The full catalogue can be found on the Lethbridge Gallery website www.brettlethbridge.com

    What: Lethbridge Gallery Art Auction

    When Saturday June 25

    Time: 5pm for a 5.30 start.

  • Stillness in Transit

    Stillness in Transit

    Stillness in Transit is an exhibition of new artworks that will be on display at Lethbridge Gallery 6-17 February 2016.
    As children, my brother and I would play outside my parents’ shop after school. I vividly remember exploring the neighbouring convenience store or leaping across the bright yellow parking kerbs (those hi-vis concrete blocks at the end of parking bays that stop drivers from going too far). My parents leased a tenancy in an unassuming single-storey building that housed about six other companies. It was a rectangular building, with a flat roof and a vibrant orange corrugated steel awning that displayed modest printed signs for the businesses within. As we played, the afternoon sunlight gave the building a captivating glow. My brother and I were part of this place. We were explorers. This was a magical world we had discovered.
    I still wander through suburbs and towns with the sense of awe that I felt for that old building. These are the places I know. My memories are ghosts in their streets.
    “Stillness in Transit” is an exhibition of artworks that rediscover these places and moments. The paintings were created without sentiment, but instead with the excitement and wonder of a child. Familiar scenes emerge as alien landscapes and the figures that appear in these scenes become solitary explorers, ephemeral beings immersed in the enduring surroundings.

  • Twenty-fifteen

    Twenty-fifteen

    Wow, what a year!

    2015 held quite a few surprises for me.  Those of you following my blog may remember I was a prize winner in the Rotary Art Spectacular and the Border Art Prize, and that I also had a chance to play piano at the State Library.  Last year I was also selected as a finalist in eight art competitions, including the Gold Coast Art Prize and the Sunshine Coast Art Prize.

     

    In August I had an exhibition of my paintings as an artist to watch at the Lethbridge Gallery in Paddington.  I had four paintings on display, which all sold during the exhibition.

     

    After the exhibition I was back in the studio to complete a new collection of paintings for a show coming up this February at the Lethbridge Gallery plus two commissioned works (which can be viewed on my gallery).

     

    I saw out 2015 with a roadtrip down the east coast of Australia.  Beginning in Brisbane we went through Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Torquay, Sovereign Hill, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Bright, Young, Port Stephens and Kempsey.  It was a wonderful holiday and a great way to end what was a magnificent year.

  • A long overdue catchup

    A long overdue catchup

    My apologies, dear reader, it has been a while.

    Since my last blog entry things have been incredibly busy.  I completed a new painting for the 2015 Border Art Prize, finished three new paintings for an upcoming exhibition, framed my finalist painting for the Sunshine Coast Art Prize, and designed and painted (with the help of the gorgeous Bernadette Chin) a set for my son’s school musical.

    At the end of July I attended the Border Art Prize 2015 opening night, where my entry, Matador (Dallas 1963), was awarded the second place prize!  This is my third year entering the Border Art Prize, and I feel absolutely honoured to have been awarded the second place.

    From the 15th August through to the 27th August I will have my work on display at the Lethbridge Gallery in Paddington as part of the ‘City Views’ exhibition, an exhibition celebrating the urban environment.  I’ll post more about this closer to the date.  I’ll also soon be posting more about my Sunshine Coast Art Prize entry and the series of paintings I have been working on in this style (sheesh, the pressure is now on to get these blog posts done).

    Rounding off June and July, last week St Edward’s Primary held their school musical.  Earlier in the year I had committed to doing the sets for this musical (Cinderella Rockefella), not realising how busy things would become.  So in these last few hectic weeks, Berni and I have been frantically painting the large sets, crammed into our pokey rumpus!  But although I was somewhat regretting signing up to do the sets, I was glad we put in the effort when I saw the wonderful show put on by the children on the night.  Their performance far exceeded my expectations of a school musical.  Here are some images of the completed backdrops (those with a keen eye may notice my homages to Warhol and Mondrian).