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Silent Windows (exhibition opening speech), by The Honourable Paul M Guest QC (2012)

The exhibition Silent Windows was at Maroondah Art Gallery (Ringwood, Melbourne) in September and October 2012.

I feel very privileged indeed to open Terry's exacting, indeed stimulating Survey, Silent Windows, which spans 23 years of his work.

In a former life I spent nearly half a century in the constructive analysis of everyday human complications. Running parallel however, I embraced avidness for art and thus, as an ordinary person like many of us here this evening, sought interpretation and understanding from critical reviews and essays, particularly of that which attracted my attention. I do not think it would be unfair to comment that some essays left me bewildered and quite uninformed. I would also be surprised if I were alone with such an experience. But not so however with essays and critiques on Terry's works, for the thematic response has, it appears to me been clear, familiar and concise. An interesting observation was made some time ago by Christopher Heathcote that art critics have tended to have a problem dealing with artists like Terry when he commented – Neither a follower or a joiner, Matassoni has steered an independent course for most of his career and has not aligned himself with any curatorially recognised movement or style (January 2003 in his essay "Matassoni – evocative urban painter"; Deakin University). True it is, Terry is his own fiercely independent man.

That leads me to the catalogue essay by Dr Wendy Garden, who curated this compelling Survey, and which so seamlessly provides both insight and instruction into Terry's works over 2 decades of achievement. For me, the narrative hook was her intriguing allusion to Orwell's totalitarian world (1984) sewn into the works she selected for this exhibition. I commend the text to you all for its erudition, comprehension and transparent understanding of Terry's journey over that long period of time and his investigation into the alienation that exists in the crowded city.

Recently, I had the pleasure of a lengthy discussion with Terry, having first been armed with Wendy's essay together with researched information which enabled me to better understand some of the pivotal works displayed in this absorbing Survey. My attention was drawn to The World Outside and in respect of which, Terry commented, represented the principal rationale of those matters central to his work.

The 3 fundamental issues conceptualise, firstly, an abstraction of multiple narratives whereby he depicts vignettes of urban reality as a frame of reference into which he then renders unrelated and isolated events of private lives. It is within this domain that a metaphysical connectedness joins each of the actors and the images within the overall civic environment, yet beyond the physical properties of the multiple images The episodes are sourced from a fusion of direct life observation, extensions of realism and invention.

The second issue involves the ostensibly contradictory allusion of "inside/outside", so readily apparent in works such as The World Outside and The Outcast. In these paintings, for example, privacy is exposed in a cross pollinated mutual disconnect with the public in variable and significant ways. Importantly, it seems to me, it is left to the viewer to interpret and analyse in an abstract sense the apparent polarisation of the diverse images.

The third issue is the variously discrete stereotypic representation of "urban" life, where, as Terry explained to me, "everything happens". It is within this ambit that he balances, in an abstract way, imagination with both shape and form. It is not simply a representation of realism, but a projection of a latent power or force that both commands and influences the image. The distorted perspective is built upon the foundation of reality and from which the multiple competing metaphysical forces within each work become central to the work itself.

As I have earlier observed, there remains in Terry's case a consistent and familiar thread throughout the decades of his work that binds the informed interpreter to a common theme. This fact, of itself, endorses the candour and conviction of his complex, and at times disturbing, motif. If I may also be permitted the indulgence of reference to some random narration that bridge the past 2 decades in support of my observation.

In 1997, Anna Clabburn observed how Terry allowed access to deeper tributaries of human experience, inviting us to contemplate the duality of participation and solitude; of public versus private desires and habits. (August 1997, – 'The Apartment Dwellers'; Lyall Burton Gallery).

In 2003, Caroline Field wrote of his fascinating insight into the modern human condition and how his peopled urban landscapes depicted the isolation of people who were by necessity in close physical proximity to one another. She observed that they were possessed of a grim solitude with the characters often imbued with a lonely desperation, even when actively interacting with others. (March 2003, exhibiting 'A walk into town'; Deakin University).

In New Zealand, Anna Briers documented in 2006 the sense of alienation and social dislocation that pervaded Terry's works, evidencing the trials and tribulations of urban consumer society, and the quest for identity in a mass media culture. (NZ Art Monthly – 'Urban Dislocation: the art of Terry Matassoni' [2006])

More recently, Ann McCulloch commented how Terry dealt with the rootless, the alienated and the self-absorbed, reflecting upon the intense and dramatic world that witnessed a paradox between his depopulated paintings which were figurative in the proclaimed absences; and his populated works projecting people who appeared homeless, without beliefs; without connection with each other and without an Ariadne thread that might provide some kind of escape. (2008, – Melancholic Wonderland; Deakin University). This is an outstanding and important Survey of Terry's work spanning more than 2 decades. The consistency of application, reasoning and conviction is remarkable and measures the mark of his masterful work. We are all privileged to be part of the occasion and I congratulate Terry upon his well-deserved success. Importantly too, is the central role that Wendy has played in curating the Survey in such an insightful and comprehensive manner. The Gallery is indeed privileged to present this outstanding collection and I declare the Survey open.

Also read: Silent Windows (catalogue essay), by Dr Wendy Garden, Curator, Maroondah Art Gallery (2012)