Brian McKay

Born in Meckering, Western Australia in 1926, Brian McKay has been the subject of a major survey exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1988 and at The Holmes à Court Gallery in 2004. In 1990 he was awarded the Australia Council Emeritus Award and in 1991 the Order of Australia Medal for services to Contemporary Art. His work is held in numerous public and private collections throughout Australia

These works have been made using aluminium whose surfaces are etched and distressed using a high tensile steel scriber and various grades of emery cloth, steel wool and polishes. Oil paint has then been rubbed into the etch to produce the lines and areas of colour.

Relying on ambient light and colour, these works appear optically active.   Daylight tends to produce a blue tinge on the refractive / reflective surfaces and in incandescent light a yellow glow. In low light conditions these works emit a cooler white glow often changing negative space into positive and vice versa, creating different refraction possibilities. Viewed from different angles the works change in appearance from positive to negative, from complete to in-part and from light to dark to light again.