It took me an entire day to find this book. Bit of a saga, but it was so worth it.
I first learned of Dale Frank’s work from Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Sydney. On a recent trip down under I read a book review in the The Australian which described Frank’s new book titled So Far The Art of Dale Frank 2005-1980. The scope of the book and the production details sounded intriguing. I’d recently become interested in the artist’s work so I thought this title would be a must-have addition to my library.
Itinerary update: locate So Far.
Following my morning coffee at the Illy Cafe, I knew I could probably find this Dale Frank book by visiting his art gallery but I was in the CBD and didn’t feel like taking a cab anywhere. First stop: Art Gallery of New South Wales. The sales person here said they received one of the books but sent it back due to a binding defect. Hearing this got me a little concerned about the overall bindery quality. I knew the book had to be pretty heavy so maybe the damage could have been caused in transit to this one title. The salesperson agreed with that and kindly referred me to Kinokuniya Bookstore located downtown at The Galeries Victoria, level 2. I had lunch at AGNSW and then headed over to Kinokuniya.
Kinokuniya is The Place for all things books, magazines and printed matter. The store is a treasure trove. I asked a sales person whether they had a copy of the Dale Frank book. She searched for it on her computer system and came up with one copy. A-ha! Excellent news and now we simply had to find that one copy in the store. Believe it or not, it took about 60 minutes of hunting back and forth, aisle after aisle, several computer checks, speaking with other co-workers, etc. but we finally found it on their new books shelf. The reason we didn’t immediately see it? Stealth packaging: all white slipcase with a discrete sans serif type style treatment. The kind of thing easily missed amongst 100,000 other titles.
You know the smell of newly printed magazines or marketing collateral – that’s the smell of printer’s inks. If you’re a graphic designer you know what I am referring to. Slipping the book out of its case and a strong aroma wafts out. Smells like it was dunked in ink and paint.
Nice details: the cover has an interesting die-cut and the edges of the book have been gilded in primary yellow.
So Far The Art of Dale Frank 1980-2005 Published by: Black Inc (trading as Schwartz Publishing) February 2008 Hardback, 432 pages
According to the Anna Schwartz website, “(So Far) … is considered to be a ground-breaking publication that will recontextualise Australian art literature, and further contemporary painting.”
I’d seen Frank’s work a few times over the past five years but I didn’t get it. Honestly, his varnish paintings remained a little too < other > for me. Maybe I thought the painting style was an effect; it was closer to chemistry than painting. Then I read the articles featuring Dale Frank’s work in Art & Australia vol.42, #2, Ticket to Ride written by Jane Ranikin-Reid and Dale Frank written by Ashley Crawford. The work clicked. My next experience with his work was the Sore Throat exhibition at RO9. The deep blacks and darker colors in his canvases were producing a murky evocative depth I hadn’t seen before. I loved each sinewy ribbon of color emerging from the blackness.
Conclusion: Now that I have the book, I think I need a Dale Frank painting in my life …
Represented by Roslyn Oxley9, Anna Schwartz.
So Far… review in The Australian.
Dale Frank, by Ashley Crawford, Art & Australia vol.42, #2.
Ticket to Ride Dale Frank’s Conceptual Abstraction, by Jane Rankin-Reid, Art & Australia vol.42, #2.
Queensland homestead at Shentel’s Blog.