Luke Wagner — Tone Poems

Prodigiously talented Tasmanian artist, Luke Wagner, has just joined the Handmark family and his upcoming solo exhibition is pure poetry.

Luke is no stranger to the local art scene. Ever since he dropped out of Medical School to follow his creative passions, this self-taught landscape painter has attracted praise, and prestigious accolades. And, his maiden Handmark outing, Tone Poems, is simply unmissable: A series of new works capturing the northern Midlands during those magical few minutes of early morning and early evening “where the half-light blurs the edges of the landscape, and the palette is reduced to tones more than colour.”

A chance visit to Woolmers Estate, near Longford, inspired Luke to paint the surrounding Norfolk Plains where “the romanticism of the landscape is transcendent.” Using his trademark oils on linen, but a new palette of muted colours, Luke produces works of subliminal beauty. “There is a tangible colonial history embedded in this landscape that does not need a narrative – it is simply there. I did not realise this until I completed the exhibition, but I think somehow this history is conveyed in these paintings.”

Luke presents us with uniquely Tasmanian vistas: Landscapes shrouded in winter mist and bathed in a soft golden glow. We gaze on a fertile plain as morning fog rises; a swollen river cuts through soft green fields; and a lone tree stands draped in Autumnal red. Tone Poems exhibition is painted poetry.

Luke Wagner’s Tone Poems Exhibition runs from February 17 – March 6.