Fields, factories and gaols

Ken Whisson is a senior artist who came to prominence in the wake of the figurative expressionist movement in Melbourne in the 1940s and 50s. Drawn to Europe's culture and turbulent social and political climate, Whisson relocated to Perugia, in central Italy, in the late 1970s, just as he had begun to receive recognition in Australia. This painting, which was produced in the late 1980s, is typical of Whisson's Perugia period works. Here, he allows the white background to peer through brightly coloured, floating shapes and lines which shift and coalesce into new forms the longer we look at the picture. The barely discernible urban motifs, such as the silhouettes of factories, speak to Whisson's enduring interest in the real world despite the seeming abstraction of his subjects.

'Fields, factories and gaols' was painted in two sittings, as indicted by the dual dates, suggesting that it was produced, at least partly, from memory. It seems that time passing, and image retention are as important as the subject matter described in the title and alluded to in the imagery.