REVIEW. How artists work & live in their studios by Ian Lloyd. With artists statements accompanying the photographs. Honest. Enlightening. Of interest to all artists.

WHERE. State Library of Victoria, Keith Murdoch Gallery, Foyer. Melbourne.

Studio: Australian painters photographed by R Ian Lloyd and written by John McDonald is an intriguing exhibition.

The concept is simple, photograph artists across Australia – many famous, some international, some regional – share & show their diverse studios. Honestly capture their work and processes.

The photos & accompanying captions are great – yet Lloyd & McDonald themselves proudly tell a story of Australian artists.

The differences between the artists spaces brought back Art School for me. And the internecine fights between the tidy small workers & the messy large scale workers like me.

I had a paint coat that was actually more screen ink, emulsion & paint than coat. It seems examining my compatriots I am in good company.

Perhaps it says something about the middle-class nature of Western adulthood that I now admired the neat studios of Imants Tillers or the nearby St Kilda Rd apartment of Wolsely.

My own studios or spaces have become smaller & neater.

This exhibit spoke of the creative block all creatives struggle with daily.

As Tim Storrier said:

“Artist’s block – or it could be businessman’s block – is nothing more than an inability to think creatively with pleasure… So take Harry Truman’s advice and go fishing. Leave it, go and play.”

The messy & neat. The artistic controlled vs the chaotic splatters. The comfortable room vs the spartan. They are all represented here.

Go. Picture yourself as the artist. See the studio you would have.

We can all be creatives in our own way. Learn from the pros.

It’s on at the State Library Victoria in Melbourne until 29 march 2009.

More > www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/exhibitions/kmg/2008/studio/