SALA Festival July 31- September 30 2020

Duologue: a series by Ed Douglas

Exhibition Opening Saturday August 1 at 2 pm

You put together two things that have not been put together before

and the world is changed. Julian Barnes, author

My Masters degree in the visual arts is from San Francisco State University. I lectured in the visual arts in California and then for twenty-five years here in Australia. I have artworks in a few major US galleries, and I have numerous artworks in a few major Australian galleries. At 77 I continue to explore my long-time interest in light-writing.

My tertiary studies took place in California in the 1960s when photography was being pushed and pulled in many unique and unusual directions. Although San Francisco is known for its tradition of landscape photography and photographers like Edweard Muybridge, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, and Ansel Adams I was more interested in what we then called 'bending the medium'. I have been gently bending the medium for over 50 years!

With this series I am stripping back my image constructions to investigate the relationship between just two figurative elements in a stage-like space. Our observations of humans or of objects quite often suggest a narrative — Those two are so sweet and loving together, or, That sofa is definitely fighting with those curtains! The word duologue has the same meaning as the word dialogue. Each of my artworks involves two objects and an implied narrative or dialogue — a text or story.

When making my artworks I choose to acknowledge the fact that each image is a construction that refers to reality. In the studio, where I have been creating my art for the last decade, a gap occurs between my constructed image and the 'seamless mimicking of reality' that is at the core of traditional photography. I cherish that gap because it is there that one's imagination is encouraged to engage with the image.

Most of the objects I have used in these artworks are from my home environment; they are things that I live with. They are things I have been given, things I have found, or things I have collected. With each image construction I am attracted to a perceived connection between the two objects and to the narrative engagement or tension created by their categorical or contextual difference or complexity.

The Duologue series artworks are all archival pigment prints on acid-free cotton rag paper. Individual works are in a limited edition of 6. Each is professionally framed with Tasmanian oak mouldings and Art Glass AR70. The size of my artworks is variable and plain glass or another protective covering is an option. Unmounted prints are also available.