Anne Middleton has been painting professionally for over twenty years during which time she has significantly contributed to the contemporary artistic community both within Australia and on the international stage. Anne has exhibited in Hong Kong, Italy, UK, and Australia. She has held nine solo exhibitions and participated in twenty-five group shows. Anne is fully committed to excellence in her painting practice and has sought to improve and build her skills through participation in international residencies and workshops. In 2004, Anne was the first Australian to be awarded a Fellowship from the prestigious Bogliasco Foundation in Italy. She currently works full-time painting in her Albert Park studio. Anne is also Director of Anne Middleton Gallery.
Anne Middleton is a passionate environmentalist and her paintings explore the beauty of the environment and our connectedness to it.
Anne’s current series of oil paintings Gates of Paradise, references life from our oceans interwoven with birds, insects, flowers and fruits in a giant mandala of swirling pattern and glorious colour. Researched and developed over the past 5 years, Gates of Paradise pushes the boundaries of botanical art and photorealism to engage with notions of the sublime. Gates of Paradise extends well beyond an aesthetic response to the beauty in natural forms; this series of work exists as a means to inspire the viewer to engage with fundamental questions about our relationship with the environment.
Anne’s practice draws richly from the classical, romantic and baroque artistic traditions that flourished in Europe during the 17th and 18th Centuries. Utilizing these techniques, Anne creates fastidiously rendered depictions of the natural world on large linen canvases (960mm x 1260mm). Anne transforms her acute observations within each canvas into epic monuments through a method of gridding: each canvas locks visually with the others to form an enduring visual statement that is all encompassing in scale. It is through this technique that we are confronted with and inspired to reconsider our impact on this fragile planet. Anne’s works invite us to view the familiar in a new way.
Qualifications
1995 Diploma of Techniques in Mural Painting,
Il Laboratorio per Affresco di Vainella, Prato Italy
1985 — 1988 Bachelor of Education (Arts & Crafts)
Melbourne College of Advanced Education/Melbourne University
Additional Studies
Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, Genoa Italy, September/October 2004 Expertise in traditional and contemporary techniques of paint application, including traditional oil glazing methods, direct oil painting, egg tempera on board, and pastel painting.
Theoretical and working knowledge of the following techniques (traditional and contemporary) of fresco painting: buon-fresco, secco (egg, milk,casein and glue temperas) encausto, stucco-lucido and sgraffito. Contemporary techniques of stucco (Ornamental
plasterwork)
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