This piece comes from an exhibition of the work of celebrated Australian artist and sculptor Brett Whiteley. Parts of his enormous masterwork "Alchemy" can be found on the cover artwork of Dire Straits' album of the same name. A long-term drug user, he died in 1992 from a heroin overdose.

 

Retrospective

A metaphor for clear technique,

the Gallery (patrolled, secure,

well-scrubbed, ambiguous)

hides Brett in thrall -

displayed for all, beyond critique;

 

hung out to dry, remaining wet,

crucified on temple walls

with narrow, appraiseful eyes

looking for arch, hi-tech Art

to spout at lovers barely met.

 

His Tunis eyes are gates of fire

or maybe just the heroin

that made him crazy or kept him sane

enough to leave this life

before it left him for a liar.

 

And harsh, irrelevant crowds slide by,

juxtaposing, inclining the head,

shuffling through, blocking the view;

being Gallery People of purpose and hue

enough alike to question why

 

he fashioned, created, sculpted, bled

in chiaroscuro, beyond the grab

of sleeve-pullers; the risks

of obsequious ignorance

when half are living, and half are dead.

 

And you are, too (aren't you?)

a styx pole-vaulter with clear technique

to spear a squirmer with the deftest flick

of Titanium White or Vincent's yellow,

in liquid depths of Harbour blue.

 

Dissolve to canvas, wood,

bird-of-paradise feathers,

light-flashes, glass eyes, careful twigs,

a laugh, a swig of very good wine

(you to yours, I drank what I could) ...

 

of the needle of life, the birth of pleasure

which burns like honesty in gates of fire,

make love of Art imperfect shrine.

 

Chris Hubbard

Perth, 2018