Artist Harald Noritis and his painting NIGHTLIGHT.

To the untrained eye, abstract art is often hard to interpret – but have you ever wondered why abstract art so captures the imagination of art lovers?

At an upcoming event on 24 June called In Conversation, the Macquarie University Art Gallery’s curators as well as art expert Paul McGillick, artist Andrew Christofides and freelance writer and curator Lizzy Marshall, will explore the origins of abstract art in Australia and the influence this art has had upon a new generation of abstract painters. The event will celebrate the gallery’s current exhibition Into Abstraction, which features a diverse range of abstract works from Macquarie University’s permanent collection.

On display during the current exhibition is an excitingly rare abstract piece called NIGHTLIGHT from well-known artist Harald Noritis, who has kindly donated the piece to the Macquarie University Art Collection. Art Critics and artists alike have described Harald as a progressive force in Australia during the 1960s, with critic James Gleeson heralding him “as one of the most gifted of our hard-edge abstractionists”.

The painting is a fitting addition to the Gallery’s existing collection from the same 1960s period that signaled a shift in pace from nationalism to internationalism in art at the time. Harald, whose paintings have found homes in institutions in Australia and overseas but mostly in private collections, says that NIGHTLIGHT is one of his seminal works which he kept, along with a few others, because it was important to him when he first started to exhibit his art.

“It was painted for my first solo show in the Central Street Gallery in 1968 and it received some favorable comments from art critics at the time. The Macquarie University Art Gallery had, since 2002 when they first mounted the show Central Street Live at the Penrith Regional & Lewers Bequest Gallery, exhibited interest in the work that the younger generation of artists in the sixties were making. This is when I first met Rhonda Davis and was able to assist with some of the material that she needed at that time to mount the exhibition,” Noritis explains.

“When Into Abstration was organised, I suggested to Rhonda that I was happy to send NIGHTLIGHT to the show and perhaps donate the work to the University where it would be in good company. After all, most of my friends’ and fellow artists’ work already resides in its collection,” he adds.

The donation has been met with much excitement from the Gallery’s curators and university staff alike.

“We are very fortunate to have received this wonderful painting from a prominent artist who was active during such an interesting time of Australian art history. Harald’s artwork certainly provides a unique insight into this heady period,” says Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery.

Other artists on display during the Into Abstraction exhibition include Sydney Ball, Andrew Christofides, John Coburn, Virginia Cuppaidge, Janet Dawson, Christine Dean, James Doolin, Michael Johnson, Alun Leach-Jones, Harald Noritis, John Peart, Robert Rooney, Rollin Schlicht, Joseph Szabo, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Tony Tuckson, Trevor Vickers, Dick Watkins and John White.

Exhibition details

When: Until 15 July
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery

Event details for In Conversation

When: Friday 24 June, 1-3pm
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery
Cost: Free
RSVP: Bookings are essential. Register online by 23 June.