Trefor Prest

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Trefor Prest (26 June 1945, Cardiff, UK) is a Welsh-born Australian sculptor living in Victoria since 1961. He produces highly-finished intricate and puzzling, often humorous, quasi-mechanical or machine-age constructions [1] that are the subject of solo shows in major public and commercial galleries and feature in national and international group exhibitions, including the Mildura Sculpture Triennials. [2]

Contents

Biography

Trefor Geraint Prest was born on 26 June 1945 in Cardiff to John and Olive Prest (nee Hamlin), a teacher, and spent his childhood in Barrow a major South Wales coal port , [3] and was the sole sibling of younger sister Lynda. Memory of the town's extensive industrial landscapes and its machinery were to become an inspiration for Prest's sculpture. [4] He studied at the Croydon College of Art in 1960, but was expelled from the course before migrating with his family to Australia on 2 May 1961 when he was sixteen on the S.S. Fairsky from Southampton under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. [5]

He was conscripted into the Australian army, and while a student living in Lytton Street, Glenroy and completing a Diploma of Art (sculpture) at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, he and Stephen Benwell were charged and fined $50 for pasting posters advertising the 1971 Vietnam Moratorium march on walls and front windows of the new Gallery building. Three female accomplices were not fined and Lenton Parr, principal of the National Gallery Art School, was reported as saying; "there was no damage to the building, so the trustees were prepared to overlook the matter," and "the trustees believe it a pity the matter had not been referred to me originally." [6]

Prest completed his diploma in 1973; [7] a single arts subject, Modern European History, at La Trobe University, Melbourne; [8] and welding and structural drawing, at the RMIT during 1972-74; and undertook graduate studies at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School during 1974-75. He started exhibiting in 1971. [9]

While studying, Prest visited the Cape Schanck area to enjoy diving and solitude, and in the early 1970s purchased a building block there for $500 on which he practised his welding in constructing a small underground building with second-hand materials that he brought from Melbourne on his motor-bike. After the 1980s it fell into disrepair and he sold the block. [8] During 1974 Prest travelled and studied in the UK and Europe and again in 1976, visiting the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. [10]

In 1982 Prest, his wife Belinda, an artist and dance and yoga teacher whom he met at the Gallery School, and their family of three, moved from a hilly rural block Kalorama in the Dandenongs to Sandon in Central Victoria. [11] He was employed at Barkla Engineering in Newstead making truck trays, and has for 30 years been an active volunteer in the Country Fire Authority Newstead brigade. After six months in Sandon he moved to renovate and expand an 1890 miner's cottage on 12Ha in Strangways and to concentrate on his sculpture and family. [12] [13]

Prest lectured in Sculpture at the University of Ballarat from 1995-1996. [14]

Style and reception

Trefor Prest (1997) Desire (detail), Federation University Art Collection Desire - Trefor Prest.jpg
Trefor Prest (1997) Desire (detail), Federation University Art Collection

Prest's work, produced using engineering techniques including forging, turning, riveting, pressing and welding with some woodworking and sewing, [15] and made from scrap iron, brass and copper with some wooden and canvas elements, is mechanical in appearance and structure, though it is based on the human form. [16] [17] [18] His early experiences of the Welsh docks provided inspiration for the machine-like, and sometimes operable, structures he makes. [4] [19] [20] Critic Sasha Grishin responds to the humour in Prest works like Dogger Bank. [21] His work has been described as "mechanically perfect but functionally absurd machines," [22] while Robert Rooney asserts that;

Nothing could be more eccentric than the "scultpures" of Trefor Prest. These structures which look like ancient dental equipment or some other type of torture machine seem to have no reason except to satisfy the sculptor's desire to construct a well-engineered, but useless, contraption. [1]

In 1978, critic John Davies, in reviewing the Seventh Mildura Sculpture Triennial judged "Trefor Prest's Surreal, machine-like Tales from the valley below, exhibited in the Bakery…one of the finest pieces in the Triennial." [23]

In reviewing Prest's 1990 solo show at Pinacotheca gallery in The Age Peter Hill wrote that;

Parts of each work in turn remind the spectator of submarines, sextants, trawlers, farm machinery, pendulums, and 19th Century scientific instruments. They all look purposeful but are in fact functionless, and for that reason fit well with Lothar Romain's views of deconstruction. Romain was one of the selectors of the last Documenta and, as an antipost-modernist, described deconstruction as "a means of setting up a model with the help of construction elements such as ordinary everyday objects. In this model these construction elements are experienced to have no significance at all and have lost their original meaning." By extension, the use of everyday objects can embrace everyday manufacturing processes, fashioning a new artistic revolution from an old industrial revolution. Trefor Prest is one of the best artists in the world at this, along with a few others such as Donald Lipski. Both fashion very different art objects through very similar attitudes to three dimensional construction. [24]

His design for an elaborate ceremonial mace was commissioned by Federation University, Ballarat, in 1995. [25] [26] [27]

In 2014 director Paul Cox in filming his feature Force of Destiny (2015) based on Cox's experience with liver cancer and a liver transplant, [28] [29] used Prest's studio and work to portray the film's hero (David Wenham) as a sculptor. [19] [30]

At auction in 2003 at Christies, Prest's Taffrail Delights (1989) in wood, copper, tin, steel, stainless steel (152 x 65 x 42 cm) was purchased for AUD 4,465.00 beating an estimate of AUD 800 - AUD 1,200 [31]

Exhibitions

Solo

Group

Awards

Collections

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Robert Rooney, "Bower-bird sculpture," The Age, Thursday 21 Feb 1980, p.2
  2. ↑ Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia, Volumes 1 & 2, Third Edition. Craftsman Press, Sydney, 1990. Page 557
  3. ↑ Printmaking, Prints and. "Trefor Prest". www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Bak, Henk (January 1995). "Maritime sculptures". Craft Arts International (34): 84–86.
  5. ↑ "RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "2 students fined on Gallery poster charges," The Age, Saturday 7 Aug 1971, p.24
  7. ↑ Pascoe, Joseph; Zimmer, Jenny; Pascoe, Joseph; University of Melbourne. Faculty of the VCA and Music (2000), Creating : the Victorian College of the Arts, Macmillan, p. 96, ISBN   978-0-9585743-8-9
  8. 1 2 Geocaching. "Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site". www.geocaching.com. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Scarlett, Ken (1980). Australian sculptors. West Melbourne, Vic.: Thomas Nelson (Australia). p. 532. ISBN   0-17-005292-3. OCLC   6943806.
  10. ↑ McCulloch, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch-Childs. The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art. 4th Edition, Aus Art Melbourne & The Miegunyah Press, 2006. Page 795
  11. ↑ Kerry Anderson, Neil Lorimer (photographs), "Industrial Evolution", Australian Country Style, December 1997, p.94-7
  12. ↑ Interview, Castlemaine Mail, Friday 20 August 2021, p.2
  13. ↑ Andrews, Russell (November 1997). "Blame it on the donkey!". The Owner Builder. 83. Russell Andrews & Assoc: 6–10. ISSN   0728-7275. OCLC   320857715.
  14. 1 2 "Photograph - Black and White, The University of Ballarat Mace, 1996". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  15. ↑ BARLOW, G., 2010, 28 Jul. For art's sake, Trefor's pedal is Prest to the metal. The Weekly Times, 91. ISSN 0817-1939.
  16. ↑ "Regional Arts Victoria". www.rav.net.au. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  17. ↑ Sculpture, Trefor Prest. "Trefor Prest Sculpture". Trefor Prest Sculpture. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  18. 1 2 "Trefor Prest". Arts Open: Visual Arts Festival. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  19. 1 2 3 Knight, Hannah (29 March 2014). "Sculptures shine in film". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  20. 1 2 "Fast Forward: Voyage of discovery," The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, 20 Jul 1991, p.148
  21. 1 2 "Exploring concepts of Aussie humour". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 2 October 1993. p. 5. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  22. ↑ Sturgeon, Graeme (July 1980). "In Pursuit of the Idea: Recent Australian Sculpture". Meanjin. 39 (2): 212–221.
  23. ↑ John Davies, "Earth and Steel: Mildura's Seventh Sculpture Triennial," Art and Australia, Volume 16 Number 1, Spring, September 1978
  24. 1 2 3 Hill, Peter (19 September 1990). "Sculpture with an odd feeling". The Age. p. 14.
  25. ↑ "Sculpture - Mace, 'University Mace' by Trefor Prest, 1995". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  26. ↑ 'University Mace' by Trefor Prest , retrieved 22 August 2021
  27. 1 2 The University of Ballarat Mace, 1996 , retrieved 22 August 2021
  28. ↑ "Filmmaker confronts mortality in his singular style.(Arts)", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited: 30, 3 September 2015, ISSN   0312-6307
  29. ↑ Cox, Paul, 1970-2016, (film director.); Wenham, David, 1965-, (actor.); Goswami, Shahana, 1986-, (actor.); McKenzie, Jacqueline, 1967-, (actor.); Fredericksen, Hanna, (actor.); Biswas, Seema, 1965-, (actor.); Agashe, Mohan, 1947-, (actor.); Norris, Terry, 1930-, (actor.); Illumination Films, (production company.); Screen Australia, (presenter,) (2016), Force of destiny , retrieved 22 August 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ↑ Lucas, Rose (January 2016). "The challenge of life: Paul Cox's 'Force of destiny'". Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine (187): 40–43.
  31. ↑ "TREFOR PREST (b. 1945)". www.christies.com. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  32. ↑ Prest, Trefor; Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum; Pinacotheca (Art gallery) (1988), Sculpture, Castlemaine Art Gallery, retrieved 22 August 2021
  33. ↑ Jan Blensdorf, The Age Friday 28 Sep 1990, p.30
  34. ↑ Listing, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 23 Aug 1991, p.50
  35. ↑ Listing, "Galleries", The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 25 February 1994, p.56
  36. ↑ Advertising, The Age Thursday 22 Sep 1994, p.19
  37. ↑ Anonymous, 13 March 2013. AN exhibition inspired by the indigenous art of trapping. The Standard, 17.
  38. ↑ Knight, Hannah (26 January 2014). "VAC paving the way for change in year ahead". Bendigo Advertiser.
  39. ↑ Vivian, Helen; Hewitt, Susan; Bridie, Sandie. "History of the Ewing and George Paton Galleries 1971-1990" (PDF). University of Melbourne Student Union.
  40. ↑ Victorian College of the Arts. School of Art; Victorian College of the Arts. Gallery (1975), Nine artists : 1975 graduate exhibition, School of Art, the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, retrieved 22 August 2021
  41. ↑ Mildura Sculpture Triennial (6th : 1975); Mildura Arts Centre (1975), 6th Mildura Sculpture Exhibition : an opening feature for Arts Victoria 75, The Centre, retrieved 22 August 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  42. ↑ Maureen Gilchrist, "Preaching, but poor practice," The Age, Wednesday 1 Oct 1975, p.2
  43. ↑ Nancy Borlase, "One martyr, many views," The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 1 Apr 1978, p.15
  44. ↑ Newcastle Regional Art Gallery (1980), Some contemporary Australian sculpture, Newcastle, retrieved 22 August 2021
  45. ↑ Benalla Art Gallery & Mauriks, Adrian & Benalla Art Gallery (1980). 15 sculptors : Jock Clutterbuck, Peter Cole, John Davis, Elwyn Dennis, Bonita Ely, Jacek Grzelecki, Noelene Lucas, Adrian Mauriks, Kevin Mortenson, Fiona Orr, Trefor Prest, Colin Suggett, Sue Vaughan, David Wilson, Ray Woolard. Benalla Art Gallery
  46. ↑ Nancy Borlase, "Mockery menaces the dream," The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 11 Jul 1981, p.47
  47. ↑ Castlemaine State Festival, [Castlemaine State Festival : Australian Gallery File] , retrieved 22 August 2021
  48. ↑ "Pinacotheca (Melbourne, Vic.) : Australian Gallery File". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  49. ↑ Carew, Ann; Geelong Art Gallery (1993), Excalibur : contemporary artists and Celtic heritage, Geelong Art Gallery, ISBN   978-1-875237-09-8
  50. ↑ In Tung, J., & Singapore Art Museum,. (2018). Singapore Art Museum: An index of exhibitions 1994-2018, p.61
  51. ↑ International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition (8th : 2003 : University of Hawaii, etc.); University of Hawaii at Manoa. Art Gallery (2003), The 8th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition : a traveling exhibition, University of Hawaiʻi Art Gallery, retrieved 22 August 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  52. ↑ Iles, Kieran (13 December 2014). "Three times the art fun". The Bendigo Advertiser. ProQuest   1664319568.
  53. ↑ BLACK, J., 5 May 2017. Interactive sculpture at Backspace Gallery. The Courier, 6. ISSN 1037-0374.
  54. ↑ CLUFF, C., 6 May 2017. Art on the move. The Courier, 36. ISSN 1037-0374.
  55. ↑ Australia Council. (1975), "v. : illustrations; 25 cm.", Annual report, Parliamentary paper (Australia. Parliament), Canberra: Australian Govt. Pub. Service, ISSN   0725-7643, nla.obj-1940368818, retrieved 22 August 2021– via Trove
  56. ↑ Marchant, Leslie R. (October 1998). "The scholar and good government". Quadrant. 42 (10): 64–67.
  57. ↑ "Trefor Prest". Artbank. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  58. ↑ "Trefor Prest, collection of the Newcastle Art Gallery". Newcastle Art Gallery, collections. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  59. ↑ "RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia". recordsearch.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  60. ↑ Launceston Art Purchase, [Launceston Art Purchase : Australian Gallery File] , retrieved 22 August 2021
  61. ↑ Machen, Mary (13 September 2014). "Pieces of history showcased". The Examiner. p. 32. ProQuest   1561548124.
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