alchemy & more
The bush 1966
The bush 1966
(Triptych) Oil, tempera, collage, hair, PVA, glass and plaster on board, 175 x 240 cm; signed verso in white paint ' Brett whiteley' (1st panel), dated verso ' 1966'
Inscriptions: u.r. (3rd panel) in black ink 'what perfumes, what evils, be below all this green/singing ringing lazy: unpredictable unshaved shrapnel seen;/ but go beneath - beyond any death adder scheme/ - There! Stillness? Seething complete/ divided + kindled on uranium heat, that can't / ask reason gently to kiss flesh to cheat.'
Exhibited: Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 1966, Cat 75. Bonython Gallery, Sydney, 1968, Cat 2
Literature: McGrath 1967, p.368-73 (illus)
Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales. Purchased by the New South Wales State Government 1994, transferred to the Gallery 1998