Robert Hunter’s phenomenal career development and critical reception lead the artist to immediate institutional recognition. In 1968, Tolarno Galleries staged his first solo exhibition, and later that year, his work was included in The Field – a landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, which celebrated abstract art in Australia. Three years later, Hunter was the only artist to represent Australia at the Second Triennial of India, New Delhi.

Importantly, in 1974 Robert Hunter’s work included in the exhibition Eight Contemporary Artists at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The MoMA exhibition included a roll call of some of the most important practitioners of the time including Italian conceptualist Alighiero Boetti, American performance artist Vito Acconci and French internationalist Daniel Buren. [1]

Involvement in these major exhibitions allowed Hunter to be exposed to local and international critics, curators and artists. Painting No. 5 1987 and Painting No. 4. 1999 are constructed using Hunter’s minimal conceptual framework, in which he builds upon subtle nuances of pinks, blues and greys. The smooth, brilliant surface is broken up with horizontal bands and punctuated by grooves that construct geometric shapes. This subtle and precise technique draws the viewer’s eyes inquisitively over the perfect surfaces of the works.

Charles Green provided the following observation of artist’s technique: ‘Hunter’s paintings trick the eye into active work, and in the process induce a sort of hypersensitive self-consciousness, or a consciousness of a knowing self.’[2]



Source:
[1] Jennifer Licht, Eight Contemporary Artists, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1974
[2] Charles Green, Persistent Subjectivity: Revaluing Robert Hunter, The Ian Potter Gallery, Melbourne, 1989, p.3 Categories: Australian & International Art