Self-Portraits of Someone Else

an exhibition by Peter Brandt

is proposed as a two part exhibition, the first and main part being self portraits with a twist; they're not of the artist.

My young sister-in-law Alex has agreed to be the main subject: she is herself artistically inclined (and talented), and has as a result, over the past couple of years, taken many digital pictures of herself; from which she has allowed me to take my pick, so that I have built up a body of work with this exhibition in mind. I have, at the time of writing, twelve completed and framed works in pastel, charcoal, chalk, or ink; on paper, fabric, and canvas; all approximately A2 size (500 x 700mm with mat), with a further three works in progress.

One of Alex's school friends, Megan, also has a tendency to point cameras at herself, and has also agreed to be included. There are six (so far) of these works in progress, all to be pastel, charcoal or chalk on stretched canvas of 500 x 700mm.

The second part of this proposal consists of a series of portraits I was commissioned to do in 2002 by the Baroness Marie-Louise von Oettingen-Brandt (no relation). She grew up in Latvia and Russia, and lost pretty much everything during the war, after which she came to Australia. She was of a society where everybody had their portraits painted, and was only able to bring with her a dozen or so photographs of her ancestry and childhood; so she was very keen to have something more substantial made from these photos. Upon completion of the commission she was equally keen that the pictures should be exhibited, which I hope at last to achieve. There are sixteen works in total, twelve of which I would like to hang here. They are all ink on paper and of various sizes.

My aim in this exhibition is to try to promote the resurgence of The Portrait as an Art Form, the concept of which I believe has been buried by the incredible ease and speed of digital picture-making technology -- cameras and computers. So many pictures are being taken now, people are forgetting how to appreciate them. Many artists try to combat this by being, among other things, more confrontational; however it seems that in this process they are losing sight of one of the fundamentals of art -- the representation of beauty, or beauty in representation.

I think The Portrait is not only an important aspect of the visual arts, it's also something everyone should have at least one of; not especially of themselves, but of loved ones and other special people.

Yet how many homes these days have any portraits hanging at all. Perhaps more portraits would help people to think more about others: It would also help artists, like myself, who feel they have something to offer society.

Of myself, I was born in Mona Vale, Sydney, in 1965. I'll name-drop my mother's uncle, Arthur Murch, who was responsible for my mum always wanting to be an artist. But her mum wouldn't have that so she became an architect (which is how she met my dad, he was also an architect). I was always interested in drawing, and in 1982 bought my first decent camera, which led to two years at the Australian Centre For Photography at Darlinghurst in '86-87.

In 1991 I started in partnership with a watercolourist as freelance art and graphic design. During this time I exhibited at the Mary Reiby Gallery (Enmore), the Elizabeth Gallery (Newtown), the Ardt Gallery (Leichhardt), the Watchhouse Gallery (Balmain), Mr Poirot (Newtown), and had long term wall space at Ralph's Living Room Cafe (South Newtown). The partnership ceased in 1999, since when art has had to become part-time. My work is in collections in NSW, QLD, VIC, and WA, as well as England and Rome.

Artists whose work is significant to me include Modigliani, Bouguereau, Mucha, and Maxfield Parrish. George Hurrell, photographer, and Ernst Lubitsch, film director, both from Hollywood's golden years, inspired me greatly when I was studying photography; and their influence is a big part of my black and white style

I married at the end of 2000, and now have three young boys, two cars, and a mortgage. My wife, Veronica, is working at building up her homeschooling and e-publishing empire (books and music). You can find much interesting detail about our home life at www.brandt.id.au. I work four days a week as a warehouse manager for a filing and storage solutions company at Wetherill Park. I try to keep Fridays as free as possible for artwork. I would dearly love for my artwork to become my main income generator, as it has been in the past. I see this exhibition as a step in the right direction.

I can be contacted via email at peter at brandt.id.au or pbrandt at abax.com.au.