What a terrific exhibition - and what a beautiful gallery. I’d like to congratulate Trinity Grammar on not only creating and maintaining this lovely space, but on bringing in such innovative ideas. As an art centre this is an excellent resource both for the school and for the local community.
And it’s a knockout exhibition. Great images from seven such interesting artists – Kate Briscoe, Joe Furlonger, Samantha Hunter, Michael Kempson, Ruth Lever, Diane Mah, John Martin and Rosemary Valadon. It’s especially good to see new and emerging artists like Ruth, Diane and Samantha alongside the mature, recognised artists who have each put in outstanding examples of their work.
Nothing would normally convince me to be so bold as to introduce work of such quality. I’m not an artist, not even a curator. But two factors persuaded me. One was Ruth Howard, who as curator has brought such vision and enthusiasm to this project. The other was the thought that if you have to have someone opening it, you might as well have an old, dyed-in-the-wool Red.
Red has an unrivalled place in our perception of the world. In ancient cultures it generally signified the divine. Look around and you can see the halos!
Red has been classified as one of the primary colours since Aristotle. Our modern triad of red, yellow and blue is a relatively recent definition. The others have changed over the years. But in every civilisation, red was always one of the three or four colours that were viewed as fundamental.
In modern times, Matisse described the colour red as having such transforming power that on one occasion, in a chapel, he “saw on the ground a red of such materiality that I had the feeling that the colour was not the effect of light falling through the window, but that it belonged to some substance”. He painted his famous Red Studio from a blue-grey interior.
To bring it a little closer to home, perhaps we should just all think for a minute about what red means to each of us. So many universal images spring to mind. Here’s my list (and I should warn those of you with artistic sensibilities, I’m no poet either):

WHAT RED BRINGS TO MIND
It’s a waratah, or the wing of a rosella.
It’s Fred Williams’ garden, a Conder umbrella.
It’s a shepherd’s delight or a sailor’s warning.
It’s the white of my eyes, first thing in the morning.
It’s fire engines and Christmas cheer.
It’s stop signs and things to fear.
It’s Man United and the Swans.
It’s bird’s eye chillis – the little ones.
It’s Uluru and the whole of the Centre.
It’s the light above doors that young boys shouldn’t enter.
It’s the flags of October. It’s under the bed!
It’s shrouded oft our martyrs dead.
It’s blood and anger but it’s also merry.
It’s the best Aussie wine, a fat, ripe berry.
It’s a Chinese lantern, an Indian wedding,
A setting sun, an autumn leaf shedding.
What have I forgotten – oh, I know. Strewth!
It’s the favourite colour of our wonderful Ruth.

Judith White, Executive Director, Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 31/07/03

To view a slide show of the exhibition RED (31st July to 24th August 2003) click here

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For all information regarding the Society of the Arts, please contact the Convenor of the Society of the Arts and Curator of the Delmar Gallery, Ruth Howard on +61 2 9581 6000.