Lived experience does not pass in front of me like a thing but I appropriate it to myself, and it appropriates itself according to its essence. 

—Martin Heidegger

Exhibition Dates: 11 March – 1 April 2010

Four thoughts

1. Lived experience does not pass in front of me like a thing but I appropriate it to myself, and it appropriates itself according to its essence.

—Martin Heidegger

2. All authentic art is conceived at a sacred moment and nourished in a blessed hour; an inner impulse creates it, often without the artist being aware of it.

—Caspar David Friedrich

3. I must surrender myself to what surrounds me, unite myself with the clouds and rocks, in order to be what I am.

— Caspar David Friedrich

4. The solution of the problem of life is seen in the vanishing of the problem. (Is not this the reason why those who have found after a long period of doubt that the sense of life became clear to them have been unable to say what constituted that sense)

—Ludwig Wittgenstein


Imants Tillers is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary painters. He has represented Australia at important international exhibitions such as the Sao Paulo Bienal (1975), Documenta 7 (1982), and the 42nd Venice Biennale (1986). Major solo surveys of Tillers’ work include Imants Tillers: works 1978 – 1988 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1988); Imants Tillers: 19301, at the National Art Gallery, Wellington (1989); Diaspora, National Art Museum, Riga, Latvia (1993); Diaspora in Context at the Pori Art Museum, Pori (1995); Towards Infinity: Works by Imants Tillers, Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO) in Monterrey, Mexico (1999); Imants Tillers: one world many visions at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and most recently, Imants Tillers: The Long Poem at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth.

Tillers has been the recipient of numerous awards and commissions, such as the Osaka Triennale Prize (Gold in 1993, Bronze in 1996, and Silver in 2001), and the inaugural Beijing International Art Biennale Prize for Excellence (2003). Major commissions include the Federation Pavilion, Centennial Park (1985 – 87); the Founding Donors Painting, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1991), and two key sculptures for Sydney Olympic Park (2002). Tillers has been a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 2001. In 2005 he was awarded a Doctor of Letters honoris causa for ‘his long and distinguished contribution to the field of arts’, by the University of New South Wales.

Major monographs on Tillers’ work include Imants Tillers: The Long Poem by John Barrett-Lennard (2009); Imants Tillers: one world many visions by Deborah Hart (2006) and The Postmodern Art of Imants Tillers: Appropriation en abyme, 1971 – 2001 by Graham Coulter-Smith (2002). Tillers’ work was recently highlighted in Tony Godfrey’s major survey publication, Painting Today, (Phaidon, 2009). A Poem of the Land is Imants Tillers’ second solo exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.

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Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BQ, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 84948 - 84963; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BQ, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 84948 - 84963
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BR, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85064 - 85079; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BR, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85064 - 85079
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BT, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85097 - 85112; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BT, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85097 - 85112
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CE, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CE, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CD, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85824 - 85839; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CD, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85824 - 85839
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BV, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85840 - 85855; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BV, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85840 - 85855
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CF, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, nos. 85856 - 85871; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CF, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, nos. 85856 - 85871
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CH, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85888 - 85903; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CH, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85888 - 85903
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CI, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 87889 - 87904; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CI, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 87889 - 87904
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers The Beech Forest, 2010; acrylic, gouache on 90 canvasboards, no. 85589 - 85678; 254 x 343 cm; enquire
The Beech Forest, 2010
acrylic, gouache on 90 canvasboards, no. 85589 - 85678
254 x 343 cm
Imants Tillers Utopia 2, 2008; acrylic, gouache on 48 canvasboards, no. 83223 - 83270; 153 x 285 cm; enquire
Utopia 2, 2008
acrylic, gouache on 48 canvasboards, no. 83223 - 83270
153 x 285 cm
Imants Tillers Outback Q, 2010; acrylic, gouache on 54 canvasboards, no. 83723 - 83776; 229 x 214 cm; enquire
Outback Q, 2010
acrylic, gouache on 54 canvasboards, no. 83723 - 83776
229 x 214 cm
Imants Tillers Blossoming 20, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 54 canvasboards, no. 84109 - 84162; 229 x 214 cm; enquire
Blossoming 20, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 54 canvasboards, no. 84109 - 84162
229 x 214 cm
Imants Tillers The Scorned Flowers, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 72 canvasboards, no. 85751 - 85822; 229 x 285 cm; enquire
The Scorned Flowers, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 72 canvasboards, no. 85751 - 85822
229 x 285 cm
Imants Tillers Tractatus 1, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85309 - 85332; 153 x 153 cm; enquire
Tractatus 1, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85309 - 85332
153 x 153 cm
Imants Tillers Tractatus 2, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85333 - 85356; 153 x 153 cm; enquire
Tractatus 2, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85333 - 85356
153 x 153 cm
Imants Tillers Tractatus 3 , 2009; acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85357 - 85380; 153 x 153 cm; enquire
Tractatus 3 , 2009
acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85357 - 85380
153 x 153 cm
Imants Tillers Tractatus 4, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85381 - 85404; 153 x 153 cm; enquire
Tractatus 4, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, no. 85381 - 85404
153 x 153 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BU, 2009; from the series Sung into Being; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no: 85163 - 85178; 100 x 141 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BU, 2009
from the series Sung into Being
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no: 85163 - 85178
100 x 141 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: BS, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, nos: 85080 - 85095; 101.5 x 142 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: BS, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, nos: 85080 - 85095
101.5 x 142 cm
Imants Tillers The Philosopher's Walk, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 99 canvasboards, no. 84647 - 84745; 224 x 366 cm; enquire
The Philosopher's Walk, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 99 canvasboards, no. 84647 - 84745
224 x 366 cm
Imants Tillers Blossoming 17, 2008; acrylic, gouache on 94 canvasboards, no. 83021 - 83114; 229 x 214 cm; enquire
Blossoming 17, 2008
acrylic, gouache on 94 canvasboards, no. 83021 - 83114
229 x 214 cm
Imants Tillers The Lilac (After Hodler), 2009; acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, nos: 83995 - 84018; 152.5 x 142.5 cm; enquire
The Lilac (After Hodler), 2009
acrylic, gouache on 24 canvasboards, nos: 83995 - 84018
152.5 x 142.5 cm
Imants Tillers Nature Speaks: CG, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85872 ? 85887 ; 102 x 143 cm; enquire
Nature Speaks: CG, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 16 canvasboards, no. 85872 ? 85887
102 x 143 cm
Imants Tillers Once Upon A Time, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 90 canvasboards, nos. 83514 - 83603; 229 x 356 cm; enquire
Once Upon A Time, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 90 canvasboards, nos. 83514 - 83603
229 x 356 cm
Imants Tillers Utopia 3, 2009; acrylic, gouache on 48 canvasboards, no. 84868 ? 84915; 153 x 285 cm; enquire
Utopia 3, 2009
acrylic, gouache on 48 canvasboards, no. 84868 ? 84915
153 x 285 cm