Jeff Makin
RED CENTRE

Ever since the first reports from the 19th Century explorers who confronted the vast interior of Australia (often with fatal consequences), the red centre has held the attention of the Australian people. The outback landscape has pervaded all aspects of our culture. It has been an ever-present force, not always understood.

Jeff Makin has pursued the very essence of the Australian landscape in his long career, spanning four decades. He holds a particular fascination for the true red interior of this continent -its harsh yet uniquely beautiful landscape. Prone to visual clichés, the centre commands much more from an artist than banal references to red earth and vastness of view.

Red Centre is the culmination of Makin's epic challenge to image this landscape with visual intensity and an understanding of the spirit of place. The crumbling walls of the McDonald Ranges give way to hidden gorges where an oasis of life springs forth -where none should exist. Throughout this body of paintings the searing blue sky is ever present, cutting across the ridgelines. For Makin, this is pictorial nirvana. Prominent landforms juxtapose against the flatness of the desert plane whilst intense colours give weight to the artists' natural inclination to order the composition.

As one of Australia's most articulate art historians and commentators, Makin also gives a nod throughout to those who have played such a fundamental role in the construction of our visual culture. Namatjira, Drysdale and Williams are all acknowledged within the unmistakably personal picture plane of this foremost Australian landscape painter.

Ralph Hobbs, 2008