Une Vie Romantique - No Vacancy
I would argue that absolutely miserable weather (read: Melbourne Winter) is the best time to go see some art. This is only made better by being combined with a good cappuccino. Currently greeting you outside No Vacancy in the CBD is Lea Thompson’s Romance triptych - an ethereal, floral abstract work that invites you into the warmth and calm that is Thompson’s current exhibition. Une Vie Romantique is a 19 work exhibition of abstracted landscapes “exploring the soft space between memory and perception.” The exhibition is near antithetical to the Melbourne winter, full of soft colours and warmth that for the time I spent perusing the works and drinking a cappuccino, made me forget about the torrential rain outside while encompassed in the soft colours of Thompson’s romantic view of life.
More reminiscent of summer than the dreary winter we currently are facing, Thompson’s body of work is well thought out and balanced. The works complement each other, but the gallery space allows them all to breathe without feeling too cold or sparse. Thompson shines in the detail, with works like Une Danse de Fleurs and Swirled memory bringing the viewer into a vortex of petals and light. Her set of 6 smaller works, set slightly apart from the main exhibition space, behind tables in the cafe, allowed for breadth in the exhibition- getting away from washes of paint and florals into Twombly-esque loops of wax and oil sticks on canvas. They provide a different scope and scale to the exhibition, a meditation on movement in miniature compared to the scale of the rest of the works in the exhibition. If you can, spend some time with these works, or better yet; snag one of the tables beneath them and enjoy them with a coffee (unfortunately all tables were taken when I was there- I will be going back for a closer look).
The exhibition is cohesive as a whole - mostly in greens and blues, with some red and pink detail - but it was Warm Layers in Nature, the only warm, dark work that drew my eye. The work stands out not just in colour but in tone. It feels like a thunder storm in the middle of a placid rain, giving the world Thompson has shown more darkness and depth. Warm Layers in Nature fully captivated me, it felt encompassing, taking me into that landscape. Whereas the rest of the show felt like windows outside, this felt like a door. The subtle colour changes, along with the small detail and weave of the canvas coming through at points drew me back in from the moment it came into view. There’s something so intriguing about a work that feels almost incongruous with the rest of an exhibition- especially a solo show. When it’s a show like this, that according to Thompson, is about landscapes and the emotions they evoke, I want to know what landscape, and how it struck her so differently from the rest of the world she has depicted in Une Vie Romantique.
No Vacancy is one of my favourite gallery’s in the north end of the CBD. Located in the QV building, my Canadian brain is always revelling in the access to art in commercial spaces. It is well worth the visit, with their constantly changing exhibitions and artists. As a relatively recent transplant to Melbourne/Naarm, keeping up with their shows has led me to find some of my favourite artists currently exhibiting in the city.
Lea Thompson’s solo show, Une Vie Romantique is on at No Vacancy until July 12.
Written by Charlotte McKinnon