Joseph Beuys’ Tree, 2019 – a gift to the College A prolific, highly regarded, well-established contemporary artist whose work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas, Rodney Pople (born 1952 in Launceston, Tasmania) is also a past parent and ongoing friend of Newington. Often dark humoured, visually intricate, and occasionally major international public artwork in conjunction with the Biennale controversial, his artworks are expressive, engaging, and haunting. of Sydney. The tree is the only surviving example in the southern Known for both photography and painting, and often fusing the hemisphere of Beuys’ environmental art project,7000 Eichen (7000 principles of each medium into the other, the artist has said that his Oaks), originally conceived for the influential exhibition documenta role is ‘to draw attention to the hypocrisy that underpins aspects of 7 in Kassel, Germany. Originally subtitled City Forestation Instead of the modern world’. City Administration, the project was one of Beuys’ last major works and also the most far reaching. As an art-led ecological intervention, In Joseph Beuys’ Tree, 2019, Pople pays homage to the ground- 7000 Oaks was intended to raise environmental awareness by breaking German artist Joseph Beuys (1921–1986). Beuys was a offering first-hand experience of nature within an urban context, and central figure in the internationally significant avant-garde Fluxus to critique institutional bureaucracy. movement of the 1960s that valued the artistic process over the finished object. His work with found objects, ephemeral and time- Pople’s painting highlights the inherent ephemerality of nature, and based media and actions as well as site-specific installations still the significance of history. The artistic style he has used here delivers carries the gravitas of an old master. He worked to humanise and a poignant portrayal of Beuys’ ideology and lasting influence. demystify the artistic experience through active expression and interactive dialogue. Beuys saw art as an attitude, an action and an This artwork was donated to Newington College through the ideology directly connected to social commentary, political activism, Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Oscar Pople and engagement with our physical and intellectual environments. in July 2020. The Moreton Bay fig tree represented in the painting was planted Mrs Tracy Knox in 1984 on the northern side of the Art Gallery of NSW as part of a Art Collection Manager Joseph Beuys’ Tree, 2019 by Rodney Pople. 28 | Curiosity | News Autumn 2022 |Stanmore 7–12