Anna Platten

Abstract

"This is the first monograph to be written on Anna Platten and highlights the artist's unique position in Australian contemporary art. The illuminating essay on the artist's oeuvre by the Gallery's curator, Tracey Lock-Weir, and its magnificent illustrations provide the foundation for further research on Anna Platten. The artist has been generously supportive of this publication and her discussions with the author throughout 2011 and 2012 have provided personal insights, supplying rich detail and adding to our understanding of Platten's approach to her work. The Art Gallery of South Australia purchased its first painting by Platten, Woman and man embrace, in 1992 ... and now twenty years later, through the generous support of the members of the Foundation, the Gallery has been able to significantly strengthen her representation, with the major addition of Ourselves as Zoe. A dream. A web. A puzzle, 2011. The huge public interest in this acquisition prompted the Gallery's staging of Anna Platten : The Devil is in the Detail as the Gallery's major contribution to the South Australian Living Artist's Festival in 2012. This monograph has been produced in response to the overwhelming interest in the artist, provoked by the exhibition. Its publication has been realised through the generous support of the Foundation, many other private individuals and from Anna Platten herself."--p.7.

Contents

Foreword -- Anna Platten : what it means to be human -- Plates -- Portraits.