The Sower

The Sower
This painting is trying to influence how people see war. It depicts a scene of brutality with distorted and warped bodies in what looks like a barren wasteland. The figure in the front of the image is not human and Gleeson is saying that neither is war. There are quite a few skulls present in the image and I think these symbolise the people who died in war. Because Gleeson was born during World War I his earliest experiences were with people who were in that warr or remember war vividly, and then, just when he began to paint the Second World War began.

This artwork is very confronting and as soon as I saw it I knew there had to be a very emotional story behind it. Gleeson has managed to capture the horrors and atrocities that are war. When i first saw this artwork i didn't fully undertand what was going on but then when I researched it more and looked again i saw things I didnt realise where there at first. My interprtation is that this piece of art is telling a harrowing story from the perspective of a young boy who grows up surrounded by war and its effects on the people around him. The monstosity that is war will never leave the minds of those who were invloved and my understanding of this painting came from my understanding of war.

Three elements from the artwork that created meaning and impacted my understanding were the multiple skulls in picture, these created meaning because of they symbolised all the men who dies for their countries. another element was the metamorphisis of the figure. This helped my understanding because it showed that because of all the horrible things the soldiers saw they were never the same again. Elements of the human body also showed me that although some of the things the soldiers did in the war were monstrous they are still human and were just doing what they felt was their duty.

Biography

James Timothy Gleeson (22 November 1915 – 20 October 2008) was one of Australia's foremost artists. He was also a poet, critic, writer and curator. He played a significant role in the Australian art scene, including serving on the board of the National Gallery of Australia. Gleeson was born in the Sydney district of Hornsby and he attended East Sydney Technical College. As a young man, he was attracted to work of the likes of Salvador Dali, Giorgio de Chirico and Max Ernst. At this time Gleeson became interested in the writings of psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, which would become major intellectual influences for his art.

Gleeson's themes generally delved into the subconscious using literary, mythological or religious subject matter. During the 1950s and '60s he moved to a more symbolic perspective, exploring notions of human perfectibility. Many of his paintings reflected on Gleeson's own homosexuality.

Since the 1970s Gleeson generally made large scale paintings in keeping with the surrealist Inscape genre. The works outwardly resemble rocky seascapes, although in detail the coastline's geological features are found to be made of giant molluscs and threatening crustaceans. In keeping with the Freudian principles of surrealism these grotesque, nightmarish compositions symbolise the inner workings of the human mind. Called 'Psychoscapes' by the artist, they show liquid, solid and air coming together and directly allude to the interface between the conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind.

Gleeson's later works incorporate the human form less and less in its entirety. The human form was then represented in his landscapes by suggestions, an arm, a hand or merely an eye.

Gleeson died in Sydney on 20 October 2008, aged 92.