In one of John Witzig’s photographs, taken in 1969 at Possum Creek, near Bangalow not far from where I live, a young man is sitting on a rock, in the middle of the creek, poking a stick into the water which is rippling into never-ending circles. This quiet, contemplative image of a young Wayne Lynch, the teenage messiah of the shortboard revolution in the late 60’s and early 70’s, has a sweet nostalgia about it, and yet also a timeless quality. The creek is still there, the surfers still here, it’s not inconceivable to imagine this photograph being taken today. And yet, of course, what Witzig’s photographs, and Alby Falszon’s psychedelic film footage (which accompanies the photographs) do, is to sum up an era.

Looking at the exhibition, originally from the National Portrait Gallery, with an outsider’s eye, what strikes me immediately is the absolute ‘maleness’ of the photographs. This was a time when young male surfers could take off in their Kombi vans, living on next to nothing, and even, according to the surfer Nat Young, believing that: “by simply surfing we are supporting the revolution”. It was long before massive consumerism and marketing hit the sport, and when people-free waves still ruled.

Nat Young photographed by Albert Falzon, 1968.

In Sarah Engledow’s excellent catalogue essay, she too is drawn to the male energy of the photographs. The exhibition, she says, is “about how it feels to be lean, male, strong, untrammelled and irresponsible: to be a slacker with immense discretionary energy.” There is indeed, a kind of winsome innocence to the photographs, and an exultation in the sheer joy of being alive which was part, I think, of the appeal of Tracks, the magazine that Witzig, Falzon and David Elfick first put together one night in a house at Whale Beach in 1970, and which, of course remains the Australian surfer’s bible to this day.

It was an inspired idea of Engledow’s to include another motif within the sounds of the sea – the massive, richly abraded, textural pen and ink drawings by Nicholas Harding of pandanus, that most coastal of trees, and used by generations of Australian beachgoers for shade, for somewhere to stand the surfboards, hang the towels, and stash the esky. These beautifully detailed works perfectly offset the ‘of the moment’ photographic and film works. Harding, originally from England, found solace in his drawing after the family moved to Australia, and has become famous for his textural use of paint, which is sometimes so thick on the canvas it creates an almost 3D effect – an effect also present in these pandanus drawings.

Digger’s Scrub Nicholas Harding. Pen and ink.

Harding’s drawings have a lovely connection to the Northern Rivers – introduced by his partner, Lynne Watkins to the Yuraygir region, near Angourie, and using it first as a holiday place, Harding gradually felt compelled to transform these fabulously messy, complex structures into drawings. Placed with careful intent between photographs, the provide a philosophical sub-plot which touches on our relationship to nature, on our mortality, and on a very different aspect of our relationship to the sea to the sweet simplicity of Witzig’s and Falzon’s photographs.

Next door to Arcadia Sound of the Sea in the Boyd Gallery is a very different exhibition – The Same and the Other by local artist Michael Cusack, a body of work which was inspired by a three-month residency Cusack spent at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2014.

Cusack, like Harding, is from ‘elsewhere’, emigrating to Australia from Ireland in 1982, and until this exhibition, much of his work has had a strong connection to his homeland, with its never-ending supply of rock walls. Always drawn to shapes, Cusack has used a rock motif almost as a mandala for most of his work, re-working from the most muted of colours, to his later more vibrant works, the relationship between object, space and colour and becoming, in the process, a masterly painter of works that question a sense of place.

The Same and the Other sees Cusack’s normally large-scale works scaled down, a necessity, he says, of working in a tiny studio. The enforced need to rethink how he might portray Paris, has resulted in a wonderful exhibition, with Cusack’s trademark focus on fragments concentrated into an exhibition full of small delights.

Documenting the surface of the city, and collecting materials for his work, Cusack, it seems from this exhibition, dropped into that deep artistic space where inspiration and illumination bubble up to produce something surprising and unexpected, as in for instance, the wonderful piece, The Untold, a series of mixed media in old wide film canisters. The painted inserts give the canisters a contemporary abstraction and at the same time, have an almost negative quality to them, as if someone has dragged a piece of metal across a film.

The Untold. Michael Cusack, 2014.

According to Cusack, in this exhibition he was attempting to make forms that stand for themselves without explicit reference to an image, and yet somehow for the works to hold traces of Paris. He refers to Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s idea that “through attention I shall come by the truth of the object”, and suggests that he is looking for an impossible-to-find visual truth.

Having discarded my initial expectation of ‘big’ paintings, I found The Same and the Other a deeply satisfying experience. For me, having lived in Paris as a teenager, it was evocative as well, the tiny Parisian references creating glimpses of something larger – tempting the imagination to take the leap between the seen object and the remembered place.

I found it fascinating to contemplate all the works in these two very different exhibitions – on the one hand, the almost mystical recreation of a time of innocence in Witzig and Falzon’s work; the intense complexity of Harding’s drawings – all relating to an Australian coastal sensibility and Cusack’s work, in almost exact opposition, the minutiae of an European city revealed by a visitor searching for points of connection.   This last, a connection to place, perhaps is also where a relationship exists between all the works in Aracadia the Sound of the Sea and The Same and the Other,  whether it was almost accidental as in the cheerful documenting of the early surfing era, purposeful and fanatical as in Harding’s work, or a deeply absorbing process springing from exposure to new influences, as in Cusack’s – all of the works speak ultimately of where we’ve come from, where we’ve been, and where we might go next.

May we all, in our different ways, ride the waves of life.

Nigel Coates and Murray Smith, 1972. Photograph: John Witzig

Arcadia Sound of the sea and The Same and the Other are showing at the Tweed River Gallery until November 15.  For more information go to: artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au

The gallery is open from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Wednesday to Sunday.

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Following the opening night film Gemma Bovery, the party continues with a selection of premium wines, delicious canapés from Luscious Catering, and entertainment from the incomparable Ilona Harker channelling her inner French diva. The fun starts on Thursday April 9 with pre-film drinks at 6.30 pm, followed by Gemma Bovery at 7 pm.

 When an English couple named Gemma and Charles Bovery move into a small Normandy town, Martin Joubert, the baker and resident Flaubert fan, can’t believe it. Here are two real life figures who seem to be replicating the behaviour of his favourite fictional characters right before his eyes.

 “A jewel of humour and intelligence…beautifully performed” – La Croix

This charming retelling of the classic Madame Bovary story is a visual feast, from the picturesque countryside to the so-good-you-can-almost-taste-it patisserie. Gemma Arterton is the playfully updated version of France’s most famous heroine, with Fabrice Luchini as the smitten baker and film’s narrator. Complications ensue when Gemma meets a dashing aristocrat – just as the plot unfolds in the book.

Skilfully directed by Anne Fontaine, who also made the similarly sumptuous Coco Before Chanel, Gemma Bovery is based on the popular graphic novel by Posy Simmonds. Balancing real sensuality and hilarious one-liners, this is an endearing film about the dangers of stirring passions, with Arterton radiant as the titular bored housewife and Luchini delightful as always in the role of the comically obsessed baker.

Gaspard Ulliel stars as Yves Saint Laurent. The film was France’s entry into the 2015 Academy Awards.

Saint Laurent, a spectacular celebration of the famous and flamboyant designer’s artistry, drive and inspiration, screens at 3.45 pm on Friday April 10. This fascinating biopic focuses on Yves Saint Laurent at the zenith of his celebrity and explores his relationships, neuroses, addictions and insecurities. It is, appropriately, a true work of art and France’s entry in the 2015 Academy Awards. The always-charismatic Gaspard Ulliel delivers a compelling performance as the tortured iconoclast, ably supported by Aymeline Valade and Léa Seydoux as his muses. However, it is the performances of Louis Garrel as the preening model and Jérémie Renier as Pierre Bergé that are the real stand-outs. Saint Laurent’s fall from grace and his subsequent rise to fame are well known, but this fascinating film adds new layers to his story of redemption. The other stars of the film are the outstanding soundtrack, and, of course, the clothes – be prepared for a continuous display of covetable garments that serve as a reminder of the true genius behind the aloof façade of Saint Laurent.

Omar Sy, the star of Samba, has a magnetic screen presence.

Screening on Saturday April 11 at 9 pm is Samba. The writing-directing duo Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache reunite with The Intouchables star Omar Sy to tell the story of a cross-cultural romance against the backdrop of France’s immigration challenges. Samba (Omar Sy) is a Senegalese dishwasher who dreams of being a chef. Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is his immigration caseworker and his only hope to stay in France. Together, they might find a future, but the path will not be an easy one.

Samba cements Omar Sy as a magnetic screen presence and Gainsbourg is superb once again as an anxious woman out of her element. Both the story and the performances are full of surprises with wonderful support from Tahar Rahim as an Algerian migrant pretending to be Brazilian.

Highly polished and appealing, it is easy to see why Samba was featured in the Gala presentation of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. After the worldwide success of The Intouchables, directors Toledano and Nakache once again explore real issues through complex and touching relationships to create this thought-provoking piece of cinema.

Verandah Magazine is delighted to be a supporter of this year’s Alliance Française French Film Festival at the Palace Byron Bay Cinema, April 9-14.  We have three double passes to give away to our readers – simply leave a comment in our Facebook comment box below, or on our facebook page – facebook.com/verandahmagazine to be in the running for a double pass to this year’s festival, with films selected by the two legends of Australian cineman, Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton.

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This year the Byron Bay Film Festival celebrates one of the nation’s greatest artists, with the film The King Sun; John Olsen at 85, writes Digby Hildreth.  The BBFF and Verandah Magazine are offering a free double pass to the film, which also includes two other fascinating documentaries on Garry Shead and local artist Scott Trevelyan.  Simply post a comment on the FB link below the story, or on our Verandah Magazine FB page to be in the runnning to win a free double pass to the films which will be showing on Sunday, March 8.

 ‘An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing.’

W. B. Yeats, Byzantium

The years and many illnesses (a stroke, a double-bypass and two knee replacements) have taken their toll on John Olsen’s body.

The revered Australian artist borrows from Yeats to colourfully describe old age as “a crooked back upon a stick” in The King Sun; John Olsen at 85, a colourful and inspiring cinematic tribute to his talent, creative drive and courage, and one of several enriching films about artists showing at the Byron Bay Film Festival.

Olsen continues, misremembering Yeats’s poem but conveying its gist: “The soul must sing, and louder sing.” And it’s his singing soul that shines through this stunning film, which is a record of his work on the second largest painting he has created – a 6m x 8m mural called The King Sun, his salute to the brilliant, life-giving orb.

Revered Australian artist John Olsen, with his work King Sun.

Olsen’s aged mottled face becomes boyish, radiating his joy in this outrageously ambitious work as he sweeps brushes across the surface of eight huge panels on the floor or bangs the paint down on them, forcing it to do his bidding. But while the singing spirit was willing, the flesh was weak. He had to be supported through much of it and he became exhausted and collapsed, though still laughing, joking about “swinging by” the mural in the ambulance to put his signature onto it before it’s too late.

Filmmakers Tony Williams and Anna Hewgill’s 54-minute documentary captures each day’s progress, starting with the arrival of the huge blank panels to the empty studio. There are interviews with Olsen’s son, Tim, with his old friend Barry Humphries and others, and Olsen himself shares his philosophy of life, reflecting on mortality, the creative process and the sun itself.

The King Sun by John Olsen, 6m x 8m, commissioned by Lang Walker for Collins Square.

The King Sun now graces the foyer wall of a Docklands high rise building, bringing cheer to all those who enter – as does this film, which is as joyful, energising and uplifting as the man himself.

Garry Shead’s carefully premeditated work is very different to Olsen’s.  This idiosyncratic documentary, In the Steps of Lawrence, takes us on a very different trip – starting in New Guinea, where Shead first came across a book of letters by D.H. Lawrence and became fascinated by the man, his beliefs and, above all, his time in Australia, when he wrote Kangaroo. Shead found out all he could about the British author, and embarked on a series of paintings focussing on Lawrence’s sojourn at Thirroul with his wife Freda in 1922.

Garry Shead, D.H. Lawrence series, Le dejeuner sur l’berbe; oil on board, 1992, 91cm x 121cm.

The series, painted in the 90s, starts on the ship that brought the couple over: Lawrence wanted to flee a Europe devastated by war (he foresaw the second rise of Germany, and World War II) and without any real motive, ended up in Australia.

There is a sexy and fantastical quality about the vibrant, colourful paintings, which feature exaggerated figures of Lawrence and his wife seeming to fly, the ubiquitous kangaroo sitting in various postures, or inter-acting with a mythological, even God-like authority. Narrated by Jack Thomspon, In the Steps of Lawrence reveals Lawrence’s fascination with the landscape, the classless society and, weirdly, Australia’s ‘Secret Army’, a bunch of volunteers, many of them ex-Diggers. It’s still a controversial thesis, but Shead believes that Lawrence met many members of this anti-communist militia, including its charismatic leader Rosenthal, the Kangaroo himself.

Through historical footage, mock re-enactments, interviews and close-ups of this fabulous series, In the Steps of Lawrence tells us a lot about the painter, about Shead as an artist, and about Australia.

North Coast artist Scott Trevelyan works on a smaller scale, but with the same focus and purposefulness, and a most unorthodox style, collaborating  as he does with bees (yes, bees!) to create beautiful nature-infused prints. The festival film The Man Who Works With Bees is an absorbing documentary about Trevelyan and his unique methods.

Scott Trevelyan in action with one of his ‘hive’ art works.

After creating an image through a process known as ‘relief print-making’, Trevelyan secures it to a wire frame and inserts it into the bee hives, then uses the honecomb they create in the final artwork. It’s random, he never knows what to expect, and he is always surprised by the result.  Trevelyan has been a bee-keeper for 20 years – as long as he’s been an artist – but the avian collaboration is more recent, following a severe motorcycle accident in 2002 which left him with a brain injury.

It took him a year to learn to walk again and as part of his recovery, Trevelyan found that both his art practice and the calming bees were highly therapeutic – the combination of the two providing him with a new way to practice art, and in which to see the world.  “I found the repetitive nature of printmaking very cathartic and almost meditative,” he says.  Trevelyan runs regular workshops for people with ABI (Acquired Brain Injury) at his Willowbank Sutdio in Alstonvale, not far from Lismore. ( scott-trevelyan.com)

The Byron Bay Film Festival runs from March 6-15, with screenings in Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore and Murwillumbah. Program and ticket sales available from Monday, February 23 at venues and www.bbff.com.au

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