EDWARDS, MARGERY (1933-1989)

"Red Veiled Yellow Labyrinth" (1971)
oil on board
58 x 40.5cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney

Edwards is a forgotten Australian-born New York-based Abstract Expressionist. Originally from Newcastle, she studied in Sydney, the Brera Academy of Art in Milan, & at the Morley College Art School in London, before moving to New York in 1974. In New York, Edwards arrived at her signature style of abstract painting & collage, influenced by Abstract Expressionism, the dominant movement in American painting in the late 1940s & 1950s. At the core of Abstract Expressionism was a belief in the spontaneous freedom of the individual artist & the expression of the inner world of the artist's psychology & spirituality. Such art referred only distantly or obliquely, if at all, to the outside world. As a style, Abstract Expressionism ranged over two very different sensibilities, both reflected in Edwards' work. One was characterized by energetic brushwork and rhythmic, dynamic compositions, as seen in the works of Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell & Antoni Tàpies. The other was more contemplative in mood & made up of subtle colour harmonies, often sombre, with relatively static compositions & simple forms, exemplified by the paintings of Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. Edwards preferred people to interpret her art in their own way, which is why she titled her work with the initials 'NY' (for work done in New York) & with a number, rather than a more descriptive title. She first exhibited a series of black paintings in New York in 1978. In 1985, Edwards' black paint began to merge into deep colours: ochres, earthy reds & deep blues.Works on paper were also important in Edwards' art. She was constantly creating collages, prints & visual diaries, which are a record of ideas, an echo of experiences & environments as in the paintings, & sometimes a lighter & humorous foil to the darker, more intense paintings. Many works by Edwards are held by the AGNSW, NGV, NGA, the National Gallery of Canada, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, & the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.