"The Gate" 2008
Oil on Canvas
180x129cm
Signed Lower Right, Dated 08
Prov: Exhibited Art Gallery of SA
Features page 99 of the Artists book "Anna Platten" by Tracy Lock-Weir.
Private Collection Adelaide
$30,000-50,000
Emerging from a practicethat consistently explores the intersection of figure and landscape, Anna Platten’s work is distinguished by its ability to merge the observed with the imagined. Her paintings often draw upon historical references and the European pictorial tradition, reinterpreted through a distinctly contemporary lens. Figures, when present, are rarely straightforward portraits; instead, they operate within constructed environments that suggest narrative without fully resolving it.
In The Gate, this interplay is clearly evident. The composition centres on a solitary female figure, rendered with a refined attention to costume and posture, setwithin an ambiguous landscape setting. Elements within the work—most notably the theatrical dress, the stylised headpiece, and the curious inclusion of
the toy-like horse—introduce a sense of artifice that disrupts any straightforward reading of the scene. These motifs align with Platten’s broader interest in staged environments, where identity and place are constructed rather than observed.
The figure’s forward movement, coupled with the suggestion of a pathway or threshold, reinforces the notion of transition implied by the title. However, rather than depicting a literal gate, the work presents a more conceptual passage—one shaped through compositional structure and symbolic detail. This approach is consistent with Platten’s practice, where meaning is often embedded within the arrangement of elements rather than explicitly stated.
The importance of The Gate is underscored by its inclusion in the survey exhibition The Devil is in the Detail at the Art Gallery of South Australia, a significant institutional presentation of the artist’s work. It is also reproduced in the publication on the artist by Tracey Lock-Weir, further confirming its place within the established literature on Platten’s practice.
Combining strong figurative presence with a carefully constructed and somewhat theatrical setting, The Gate represents a characteristic example of Anna Platten’s work, one that reflects her engagement with narrative, art history and the reimagining of landscape within a contemporary Australian context.
“The Gate 2008” is part of the artists five-part land journey series, said to take her across time and space. These works are illustrated in the book Anna Platten by Tracey Lock-Weir and published by the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Works Include:
The Journey Pg.91
Landmark Pg.93
The Crossing Pg.95
Thunder Pg.97
The Gate Pg.99 (This work)
