Tracy Dods

Thoughts, Prayers and Business as Usual

$5,600

Precious Moments

$5,400

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b.1970 Cairns QLD Australia

I always say that my work is not autobiographical in so much as I’m not exploring my own existential angst. What I am trying to represent, in the only way I know how, is the complete impotence I feel when governments make decisions on my behalf to benefit big businesses. The frustration I feel in the knowledge that governments are just the puppets of their wealthy financial backers.

Much of my work depicts the lushness of the human form alongside the exciting colours of Australia’s beaches. The sea has such a strong calling for me in that it can be a frightening thing, vast, unknown and destructive. Yet, conversely, it can be a meditative thing with its constant motion, its horizon, while its expansiveness stimulates the senses. I feel that it has a big role in the Australian psyche.

Australian beaches reflect joy, hedonism, fun and of course the sun. Beneath this shimmering surface lies much more: confessor, critic, soul mate, and stranger. The beach, the expansive ocean and the motion of the waves begs the question – is it friend or foe? It can just as easily take and, then bestow its bounty on us. The seascape with its strength and rhythm may not have all the answers, but it will always be there for us, listening and healing, delivering answers drawn from an ancient, collective memory of deep power and knowledge.

There’s an affinity we feel for the sea, why we are drawn to the beach, both for frivolity and fun and in times of introspection. And then there is the indifference with which we treat the oceans and each other.

My paintings take the viewer on a journey to the inner life of my subjects. The men in suits symbolise the power of governments, big business and the media. The neutrality of the sea allows us to envisage what truly is.

My work has always been about social observation, seeing the humour and the hidden desperation of those business men who scurry to and from their offices. I spend a lot of time in Sydney’s Martin Place, watching people, the flow of humanity, noticing their body language. I was inspired by the beautiful and dynamic movement of a flock of bewigged and gowned barristers; the gait of a man in a suit, nearing his retirement. They represent to me the desperation and unhappiness I see in men of a certain age, and that moment when they realise that their working lives, their striving to succeed has amounted to nothing. The sea washes away all the fussiness of the city so that you can see what is really going on – the machinations of big business, the political maneuvering and the lack of responsibility.

The juxtaposition of the man in the suit with the ocean is not about death but about introspection, about the goals we set ourselves, the quest for individualism and thence the loss of social interaction. The men in my paintings have spent a lifetime earning money, keeping up with technology, which in return isolates them – from their families, society, and their feelings.

44. TRACY DODS Riverie 10 x 100cm acrylic on canvas copy

45. TRACY DODS Running Stream 122 x 200cm acrylic on canvas 5400AUD copy

Artist CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 “Halcyon days” Manyung Gallery. Sorrento, Victoria

2020 “Upon reflection” Traffic Jam Galleries. Sydney

2019 “In Favorem Libertatis” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2017 “Journey of expectations” Traffic Jam Galleries. Sydney

2016 Works on paper, Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2016 “Blue sky laws” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2015 “Uncharted territory” Traffic Jam Galleries. Sydney

2014 “Seaside reflections” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2014 New works, Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2013 Drawings, Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2013 ”The Annual Biennial” SOHO Galleries.Sydney

2012 “Searching for a form of Clarity” Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2012 “The Calling” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2011 “Shaping the Post Crisis World” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2010 “Syllogism” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2009 “The Expedition” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2008 “Figurative paintings” The Gallery Blackheath, Blue Mountains

2007 “Like Lemmings to Water” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2006 “Morphic Resonance” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2004 “A journey Without Anchors” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2003 “Life’s a Beach” Bruce Watling Galleries, Brisbane

1997 “Neo Romantic Nudes” Bruce Watling Galleries, Gold Coast

1996 “The Beach Collection” Sheraton Mirage, Gold Coast

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 “Collectors Edition #10” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2023 Korean Art prize, Sydney

2022 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery. Cowra

2022 Redland Art Awards, Redland Art Gallery Cleveland QLD

2022 “Collectors Edition #8” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2020 “Collectors Edition #7” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2019 Kilgour Art prize, Newcastle

2019 Korean Art prize, Sydney

2019 “Collectors Edition #6” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2018 Hunters Hill Art prize, Sydney

2018 “Here, Now, Artists of the central west” Orange Regional Gallery. Orange.

2018 “The Beach” Traffic Jam Galleries, Sydney

2018 “Collectors Edition #5” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2018 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2018 “Fun and Games” Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2017 Grand opening. Gang Gang Gallery, Lithgow. NSW.

2017 “Artists4.life” Corner gallery, Sydney

2017 “Collectors Edition #4” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2017 “Untitled” Traffic Jam Galleries, Sydney

2016 “Bathurst affordable art fair” Bathurst Regional Gallery. Bathurst

2016 “Collectors Edition #3” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2015 “Collectors Edition #2” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2015 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery, Cowra. N.S.W

2014 Blacktown City Art Prize, Sydney

2014 Mosman Art prize, Sydney

2014 “Collectors Edition #1” Blue Mountains Cultural centre

2013 Blacktown City Art Prize, Sydney

2013 “Ocean light” South Yarra Art House. Melbourne

2013 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2012 Blacktown City Art Prize, Sydney

2012 “A taste of things to come…” Art Images Gallery. Adelaide

2012 The Legislative assembly. Parliament House. Sydney

2012 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2011 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2011 The Blake Prize, Directors cut exhibition. Sydney

2010 “Cultural Mix”, Painters Gallery.Mona Vale. Sydney

2010 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional gallery Cowra N.S.W

2009 Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery. Cowra

2007-14 Blackheath Art Society. Blue Mountains

2008 2 artists, Gallery Blackheath. Blue Mountains

2006 Praxis. Melbourne

2006 Manyung Gallery. Melbourne

2003-2022 ART Melbourne. Melbourne

2003 Kings College Art Show. Sydney

2003-10 Riverview. Sydney

2005-14 “All the best” SOHO. Sydney

2005-08 ART Brisbane. Brisbane

2003-2022 ART sydney. Sydney

2002 “Urban Realism” SOHO Galleries. Sydney

2002 “Figuratively Speaking” Bruce Watling Galleries. Gold Coast

1993-94 Queensland Arts Council. Cairns

1992 Mareeba Art Society. Mareeba

1985-90 Cairns Art Society.Cairns

AWARDS AND PRIZES

2023 Finalist, Korean Art Prize Art exhibition.Sydney N.S.W

2022 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2022 Finalist, Redland Art Awards. Cleveland QLD.

2019 Finalist, Kilgour Art prize. Newcastle Regional Art Gallery N.S.W

2019 Finalist, Korean Art Prize Art exhibition.Sydney N.S.W

2018 Finalist, Hunters Hill Art exhibition. Sydney N.S.W

2018 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2016 Finalist, Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended)

2015 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery, Cowra. N.S.W

2014 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize. Sydney. N.S.W

2014 Finalist, Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended) (peoples choice)

2014 Finalist, Blacktown City Art Prize, Sydney. N.S.W.

2013 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2013 Finalist, Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended)

2012 Finalist, Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended)

2012 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2011 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional Gallery Cowra N.S.W

2011 The Blake Prize, Directors cut exhibition. Sydney

2010 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional gallery Cowra N.S.W

2009 Finalist, Calleen Art Award. Cowra Regional gallery Cowra N.S.W

2009 Finalist,Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended) (peoples choice)

2008 Finalist,Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended)

2007 Finalist,Blackheath Art Society.(highly commended)

COLLECTIONS
Sea World Nara Resort, Gold Coast
Sheraton Mirage, Gold Coast
Meriton Apartments, Sydney
Macquarie University, Sydney
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney
Bureaux, Sydney and Melbourne
National Australia Bank Collection, Sydney
Many private collections throughout the world

EDUCTATION
1988-89 Studied at the Queensland College of the Arts, Griffith University

Sydney & Surrounds

Megan Barrass

'Sydney & Surrounds' is a thematic group exhibition that will be held during the month of February and features numerous tjg artists responding to this theme. Overt or with subtle links to the thematic brief, works include sculpture, painting, collage and mixed media.

Upon Reflections & Ballad of the Daily Pilgrimage

Tracy Dods

Join Tracy Dods & J Valenzuela Didi in a showcase of their latest work.

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Tracy Dods

Thoughts, Prayers and Business as Usual

Hartley

Running Stream

Precious Moments

Artist CV

Sydney & Surrounds

Upon Reflections & Ballad of the Daily Pilgrimage

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