Beginners’ guide to palms
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CreatorAlexander McKenzieTitleBeginners’ guide to palmsDate2020MediumOil on linenDimensions167cm x 167cmArtist StatementEarly in 2020 McKenzie flew to Morocco to rest, re-invigorate and re-inspire himself with a change of landscape and surrounds. The famous gardens of Marrakesh were his destination – places that he hoped would provide him with inspiration for the series of works that he was intending to make.
As it turned out, the idea of escaping to an imagined and idealised place took on a new and much more loaded meaning for McKenzie as COVID-19 broke out just as he returned to Australia. The apprehension and experience of this new pandemic-struck world meant McKenzie’s journeys in Morocco became more Arcadian, more symbolic, and more meaningful, as he recalled this time before the virus that has come to define this year.
Making the paintings allowed him to return again and again, not only to the gardens and landscape of palms and pools, vast skies and the warm brickwork all painted up in Marrakesh red, but to a state of mind free from the thoughts of 2020.
These works re-interpret the gardens of the Koutoubia, the Menara, la Mamounia and Jacques Majorelle.
McKenzie love’s the infinite variety of palms and cactus, the juxtaposition of the wild and the manicured, and the constant changing colours of the Morroccan landscape. As McKenzie is painting them, he is transported. He can, at least in his mind, escape to the Palmeraie.
[from 'Escape to the Palmeraie' exhibition, 2020]
In this group of works the island features prominently as the significant major motif, a long-held symbol of humanities search for the ideal, it represents our endless striving for the perfect world. The attainment of built-up goals around our lives, our relationships, our place in this world are all caught up in the image of the Island. The ideas that circulate around retreating from life, about being marooned, standing alone against a storm and a place of romantic escapism are all encapsulated in this image in our contemporary minds as well as throughout the canon of art history.
However, on closer examination this is not all that it appears to be, recently departed protagonists have set a fire, left ropes and abandoned boats, set up signposts and spotlights, and fled the scene of half completed gardens and ruined wharfs. A distant pier or light post glows in the retreating landscape suggesting the narrative that threads through the work, that perhaps life is not a climb to reach some sort of idyllic island retreat but that life’s true meaning and purpose lies aside of this, in the distance, and that signs are there that point the way but we need to be curious enough to look for them.
Much of my recent work explores these ideas that relate back to my personal struggles with my place in the world, an early influence for me being Gauguin’s 1987 work, Where do come from? What are we? Where are we going?, as well as the work of Bocklin and Casper David Friedrich who both used landscape to raise ideas around mortality and spirituality.
My love of travel, as well as a heritage that combines Scottish and Australian families, sees a somewhat discordant landscape in the work, European and Australian trees and plants thrown together in the idyllic islands and gardens. The North coast has provided much imagery for me over the years, a old surfer much of my youth was spent driving up and down the coast, surfing, drawing and painting. The inclusion of Bangalow and Cabbage tree palms, Bunya pine and Casurina all burnt into my memory from those North coast trips.Accession NumberG2024.6.1Credit LineDonated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Alexander McKenzieAccess AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
As it turned out, the idea of escaping to an imagined and idealised place took on a new and much more loaded meaning for McKenzie as COVID-19 broke out just as he returned to Australia. The apprehension and experience of this new pandemic-struck world meant McKenzie’s journeys in Morocco became more Arcadian, more symbolic, and more meaningful, as he recalled this time before the virus that has come to define this year.
Making the paintings allowed him to return again and again, not only to the gardens and landscape of palms and pools, vast skies and the warm brickwork all painted up in Marrakesh red, but to a state of mind free from the thoughts of 2020.
These works re-interpret the gardens of the Koutoubia, the Menara, la Mamounia and Jacques Majorelle.
McKenzie love’s the infinite variety of palms and cactus, the juxtaposition of the wild and the manicured, and the constant changing colours of the Morroccan landscape. As McKenzie is painting them, he is transported. He can, at least in his mind, escape to the Palmeraie.
[from 'Escape to the Palmeraie' exhibition, 2020]
In this group of works the island features prominently as the significant major motif, a long-held symbol of humanities search for the ideal, it represents our endless striving for the perfect world. The attainment of built-up goals around our lives, our relationships, our place in this world are all caught up in the image of the Island. The ideas that circulate around retreating from life, about being marooned, standing alone against a storm and a place of romantic escapism are all encapsulated in this image in our contemporary minds as well as throughout the canon of art history.
However, on closer examination this is not all that it appears to be, recently departed protagonists have set a fire, left ropes and abandoned boats, set up signposts and spotlights, and fled the scene of half completed gardens and ruined wharfs. A distant pier or light post glows in the retreating landscape suggesting the narrative that threads through the work, that perhaps life is not a climb to reach some sort of idyllic island retreat but that life’s true meaning and purpose lies aside of this, in the distance, and that signs are there that point the way but we need to be curious enough to look for them.
Much of my recent work explores these ideas that relate back to my personal struggles with my place in the world, an early influence for me being Gauguin’s 1987 work, Where do come from? What are we? Where are we going?, as well as the work of Bocklin and Casper David Friedrich who both used landscape to raise ideas around mortality and spirituality.
My love of travel, as well as a heritage that combines Scottish and Australian families, sees a somewhat discordant landscape in the work, European and Australian trees and plants thrown together in the idyllic islands and gardens. The North coast has provided much imagery for me over the years, a old surfer much of my youth was spent driving up and down the coast, surfing, drawing and painting. The inclusion of Bangalow and Cabbage tree palms, Bunya pine and Casurina all burnt into my memory from those North coast trips.Accession NumberG2024.6.1Credit LineDonated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Alexander McKenzieAccess AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
More Information
Significance Statement
Alexander McKenzie has a solid reputation as a leading Australian landscape painter. He has been a finalist in major art awards including the Archibald Prize and the Wynne Prize.
McKenzie’s landscapes have a strong synergy with the Coffs Coast:
- predominantly feature islands or waterways
- include specific trees that are endemic to the area
- one of the key motifs in every work is a beacon of light, often in the background and often taking the form of a lighthouse
Classification
LexiconPaintingGeneral NamePainting
Alexander McKenzie, Beginners’ guide to palms (2020). Coffs Collections, accessed 04/05/2026, https://coffs.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/79691