Anthea Boden & Ian Parry

1 – 25 May 2024

Despard Gallery is proud to host a special joint exhibition featuring established Tasmanian painters Anthea Boden and Ian Parry.

Both with established careers of over forty years, Boden and Parry are highly revered for their original contributions to the Tasmanian arts scene.  Be That As It May presents new works from both artists, each drawing inspiration from their immediate environment and the unique ambience that defines Tasmania. Boden and Parry have each developed unique semi-abstract approaches to painting that strips back superfluous detail to reveal the intrinsic aesthetic qualities of Tasmania’s natural and urban spaces, including light, form and colour.

Guiding each artist is an intuitive approach, compositions evolving through layers of paint to build up rich and complex surfaces.  Lead by their medium and learned knowledge that only comes from experience, both artists adhere to creative processes that are ingrained in the traditions of formalism.  As such, Boden and Parry each reveal how the act of painting can help strengthen the joy found in the painting as object.