Detail (from 'The Dutch Painter')1991
Anne Zahalka is one of Australia’s most celebrated artists, well-known for her portraits of artists and art world luminaries in staged scenes. She engages with the history of art to question how we see the world, interrogating the nature of image making. Particularly, she explores the notion of an ‘original’ artwork and of ‘authenticity’.
The images in this series are segments of larger works from her series Resemblance, which have been cropped and zoomed into so that only details are left. These images are to be viewed as if in conversation with each other, placed as if leafing through an art history book, with the text removed. By creating the series in this way, Zahalka draws attention to elements synonymous with traditional painting techniques and the impact and legacy they have on artists to this day. She dissects the elements of an artwork to expose its inner workings, isolating portions of the whole and drawing attention to specific details.
(2018)
A silver dye bleach print is a subtractive positive-to-positive colour photographic process used for the reproduction of colour film transparencies on photographic paper. The prints are made using a triacetate, polyester or resin coated paper support coated with layers of azo (synthetic) dyes mixed with light sensitive silver gelatine emulsion, which are selectively bleached out during the development process. Silver dye bleach prints are characterised by their image clarity, colour saturation and stability. The most commercially successful silver dye bleach product was Ilfochrome (which was also commonly known as Cibachrome).
