Chance Encounters with Magritte

Explore the potential for chance encounters between images and words inspired by Rene Magritte. Increase your painting skills to create original imagery with dream-like associations and meanings. Christine Dean introduces you to Magritte’s poetic approach to painting, and the techniques and attitudes of this important Surrealist artist, with his groundbreaking concept ‘the Treachery of Images’.

She guides you through a series of studio exercises combining two or more contradictory images with collage techniques, which will develop into studies for larger, resolved paintings. By playfully experimenting with shape, scale, gravity, text, absurdity and juxtapositions, the exercises aim to visualize portals or windows into new ways of seeing. Learn how to layer solid images and hollow silhouettes together to draw out surprising connections with the aim of manifesting ideas and im-agery into exciting paintings.

The course includes an inspirational guided tour with Christine of the exhibition ‘Magritte’ at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

* NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over. 

*Drawing and painting short courses may be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact Short Courses team at short.courses@nas.edu.au 

* What to bring? Please refer to the list of required materials in the Art Materials field below. 

Dr. Christine Dean commenced exhibiting as an artist in 1988.  Her studies include a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Art History, 1986; followed by a Diploma of Art Education, 1988; a Graduate Diploma in Painting, 1991; a Masters of Fine Arts, 2000 and a PhD, 2010. In 2000 she was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship and in 2001 an Australia Council Residency at the Los Angeles studio. Christine’s exhibition history includes, Spirit + Place, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Juice, Art Gallery of NSW, 1997; Points of Departure, Tobey Fine Arts, New York, 2007; Minus Space at PS1, New York, 2009; Fabrik, Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne, 2016 and The Public Body 2.0, Artspace, Sydney, 2017; Solo exhibition 'From the Collection', Penrith Regional Gallery 2022; 'Thinking Through Pink', Wollongong City Gallery 2022; 'The Party', UNSW Art + Design, 2023; Blake Prize finalist, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 2024. Christine's work is represented in the Art Gallery of NSW permanent collection.

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

• Notebook or sketchbook, and drawing media such as pencils, crayons, mixed media
• Acrylic paints in a good range of colours including white (basic prices acrylics are fine). Bring whatever paints you have and you can purchase more at Parkers.
• Acrylic painting mediums
• Gesso (500ml or 1 litre)
• Brushes, square and round bristle – bring an assortment of sizes including up to large house painting sized brushes
• Palette for mixing paint e.g. disposable paper palettes or flat plastic sheet or plate
• Surfaces to work on, may include prepared paper, stretched canvas, canvas boards, of any size you’d like to work on.
• A range of plastic tubs, disposable containers are useful
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• PVA or Craft Glue
• Collage Materials including a wide range of imagery such as old magazines, books such as art history books, encyclopedias, family photographs, dictionaries, technical manuals, advertising brochures etc.
• Enclosed footwear is essential in all studios on campus. 

The teacher will advise on additional materials as the course progresses. Art materials can be purchased at Parkers Art Supplies on campus at NAS.