FLYING DOGS portraits - Enlargements, info. CLICK IMAGE TO RETURN TO
ARTIST'S STATEMENT: "The so-called "lowly" dog achieves what humans aspire to: loyalty, forbearance, patience, devotion, forgiveness and numerous other noble traits which are so quickly abandoned by humans when in pursuit of some selfish goal. Compared to humans, I know far more dogs worthy of being portrayed flying like angels." Ranna, 1997. PREVIOUS EXHIBITS OF FLYING DOGS: The paintings featured prominently in the mid-career retrospective exhibit of the artist's work in Australia in 1998. Prior to that, the four "Flying Dogs..." panels were exhibited in a major gallery in Australia in October 1997. The panels were displayed on the ceiling, consistent with the artist's intention when she referred to the Sistine Chapel in the title of the paintings: "Flying Dogs at Sunset: Allegory of the Sistine Dogs". Visitors to the exhibition were provided with pool lounge chairs to lie down and view the paintings. However, the paintings look great on a wall, too! THE DOG IN THIS PANEL: The painting is based on photos the artist took of this little spaniel, Oscar, at various stages of his life. Nine days after the four "Flying Dogs..." paintings were first exhibited, Oscar died of complications of old age. Although he had been ailing for several months while the artist was working on these paintings, he had lived a long, mischievous, fun-filled life achieving 16 years and 4 months at his death. He was adored and the artist has a permanent memento of the love and devotion he showered on her every day in the form of this painting. (1) (Excerpt) "...Lachlan's Flying Dogs at Sunset: Allegory of the Sistine Dogs ... illusion using light reactive paint, humor, and metaphor. The Sistine dogs reflect human traits or perhaps vice versa. The everyday transcends itself to become meditational and endless." (Gallagher, J. 1997.) (2) (Excerpt) "...the work of a passionately committed artist. ... Here the journey begins on the wall and flies up to the ceiling. ...Lachlan's work had journeyed out of the human body, basing itself on calligraphic gestures and the equivalent sounds in a higher dimension. Here, however, the introduction of the artist's dogs into the work puts her project in a different key." (Ruinard, E. 1997.) (3) (Excerpt) "...
Lachlan's Flying Dogs at Sunset: Allegory of the Sistine Dogs
continues the artist's employ of light reactive paint shimmering in
the darkness ... the dog pieces on the ceiling show this artist working
at a different speed. The elevation of the dogs forces ... the upturning
of our gaze to view the work... [and] it is tempting to read
the appearance of the dogs as a de-territorialization of the human body
or a movement out of embodiment into the transcendent." (Ruinard, E.
1997.)  DETAIL from CENTER of painting CLICK IMAGE TO RETURN TO
Copyright,
trademark, company & site information.
|
