Lo Spazio – the Space

Cultural navigation was the central theme of this exhibition of paintings by Julia Ciccarone, Judith Dinham and Rina Franz. All three shared a common determination to reconcile the cultural, spatial and geographical difference between Australia and Italy. At the heart of their work lay a question which asked whether it was possible to bring together the knowledge and love of two cultures. Each culture inhabits a real and metaphoric space. Each has different histories and a different set of messages to be interpreted and decoded, not just nationally, but individually as well. As painters, the work for these three artists referred to the Italian painting lineage; the recessional spaces and atmospheres of Renaissance greats and the chalky quality of frescoes. These paintings were however contemporary, as such they re-interpreted traditional genres and redefined perspectives and spaces.