Oxide Break by Col Jordan, 1971

Transcript

Oxide break by Col Jordan, 1971, is an art piece made with synthetic polymer paint on board measuring 137 cm high by 137 cm wide. It is unframed. This art piece is on Wall 2: Wentworth Modernism.

The background of this work is black whilst the shapes are solid and precise, painted in vibrant colours which boldly stand out against the black background.

Starting at the top-left and angling back down towards the bottom left-hand corner is a solid but jagged lined shape in colours of orange, like a flame. The outline of this shape begins with a brown colour followed by burgundy, red, orange and light orange.

The flame appears to be coming out of a tube or cord which is represented by two parallel blue, bold, squiggly lines. These lines angle down to the right of the work, almost touching the right side before winding back to the left and over the top of some of the flame before turning back again to the right, heading downwards and connecting with the bottom edge of the work.

A few centimetres in from the edge of the work and in the same blue colour as the cord, is a blue border.

In the 1960s, Col Jordan was one of a small group of young artists who introduced hard edge optical painting to Australia. He was born in Sydney in 1935 and educated at Homebush Boys High School, Balmain Teachers College and the University of Sydney. Since 1966, Col Jordan has had forty-six solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.' 

USU purchased this artwork in 1972.

The biographical information included in this description was sourced from Col Jordan’s artist website. Read more about Col Jordan here.