General News
31 July, 2026
Abstract works demand attention
Experienced abstract artist Russell Drever's works are on display at Avoca's Gallery 127 throughout August.
“The message is in the painting,” according to experienced abstract artist Russell Drever.
The long-time Moonambel resident and artist will have his paintings on display at Avoca’s Gallery 127 throughout August.
The vibrant pieces are informed by a life-long artistic vocation, one that dates back to the 1960s, with decades of inspirational touch stones.
Whether it’s great abstract artists, traditional masters, or simply the “fascinating” light around Moonambel — they all play a role.
Their influence may come down to Mr Drever’s freeform artistic approach.
His painting style is one of discovery where he never knows what the painting will look like before he starts.
“I get up every day and [painting] is all I want to do,” he said.
“I have used creativity to keep finding myself.”
What he has found, however, isn’t clear — which may be the point.
“If I could really work out what I was doing and explain that to somebody well I wouldn’t be doing it,” he said.
“It’s like having a language where you work with colour, you work with line, you work with form, tonality, whatever it is, you have that language you’re sort of speaking to yourself about and hopefully other people can relate to it.”
What they may find is Mr Drever’s pursuit of childlike wonder.
“They have a purity of vision and of expression ... it’s the best state to be in,” he said.
When Mr Drever was eight years old he had a “real epiphany” that set him down the artistic path.
He said his primary school’s art teacher shared a painting of potteries around Melbourne which “thunderstruck” him.
“It was quite clear you could see all the buildings, there was tone and colour, there was depth, but I just thought that’s what I’ve got to do,” he said.
Later, he discovered abstract paintings, and the common critique that a child could do them.
The irony is achieving a child’s approach is often the most difficult thing, according to Mr Drever.
“Often children’s art is so much more interesting and certainly sometimes better than some of the pictures you see,” he said.
The exhibition ‘Abstractions of Distinction’ is officially opening at the gallery tomorrow, August 1, from 2 pm and is on display throughout August.