Tiers of influence
Sebastian Smee
April 22-23, 2016, the Weekend Australian
Below the level of public galleries, commercial dealers are constantly testing new talent and keeping veterans up to the mark, writes Sebastian Smee
“At Watters Gallery, Peter Poulet has a marvelous show of 51 paintings, all of them untitled. Together, they demonstrate how a minimal syntax of colours and abstract shapes can give rise to paintings that keep offering surprises. This is a strong show by Poulet, who uses veil-like layers of paint, round-edged rectangular shapes and curtains of vertical drips to sustain the viewer’s interest.
As with the work of another Watters gallery artist, John Peart, they are modest, unpretentious and liberated from cant, but they feel like real paintings.”