ABOUT THE ARTIST

Glendon Cordell is an abstract landscape painter from Tasmania. Cordell is a graduate of the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Given this academic underpinning, Cordell has a particularly refreshing perspective of his art, with a simple focus on conjuring joy in the viewer and garnering artistic appreciation.

Cordell captures undulating hills, the deep hues of Australian water ways and the burnt mustard of sun kissed fields; highlighting the technicolour dreamscape of Australia. He delivers vibrant and playful depictions that will brighten and enliven the senses.

In his process, Glendon uses layer upon layer of acrylic paint, ensuring his work is detailed and concise. Glendon experiments with gouache and watercolour, but prefers a maleable acrylic base for his work.

“It is simply my hope to relay emotions of calm and enjoyment through my work.”

Cordells work explores the relationship between colour, texture and formations of mark making on canvas. Glendon’s primary inspiration comes from the natural world and all that it inspires within. He takes what is seen externally and synthesises this with his internal experience of those visualisations to produce abstractions abundant with his unique style.

Interview with Glendon Cordell

Who is Glendon Cordell?

It’s a question many people are asking and one the abstract artist existentially asked himself 6 years ago following his mothers passing. Cordell, who studied fine art at the University of Tasmania with a minor in painting and major in print making, strayed from his creative origins for a large part of his adulthood in favour of a more stable career. However, a creative urge eventually surfaced and took over and the artist found himself painting prolifically in his spare time, only this time a different aesthetic emerged as Cordell began experimenting with the rumbling landscapes borne from somewhere deep in his psyche, that we now see today.

“Yes…They feel prehistoric to me. I’m not sure where they come from. They are mostly interpretations from my imagination”, was Glendon’s response to my own feeling that his work is reminiscent of the ancient.

Given his academic underpinning, Glendon has a particularly refreshing intention for his art; simply to conjure joy and garner artistic appreciation, a far cry from the often-philosophical allegory most academically trained artists claim foundational to their practice. There is a humility and purity in his words that I find lacking in most folk to be honest. I sense that Glendon is lead by an intuitive compass rather than an intellectual one, a feeling the artist confirms, and it becomes clear why his work has such a transcendent quality, and his career trajectory has taken such a recent surge. The man and by extension, the artist, has integrity. What I mean by that is ‘truthfulness’ as opposed to morality, a virtue that can seldom be taught and one that is the underpinning of all collectable artists.

Likened to Nicholas Party, Matthew Wong and David Hockney, Cordell has collectors from all corners of the globe, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, U.S, Australia and Europe with a commission waitlist and enquiries rolling onto the floor. Notwithstanding the steady ascent in his value at  Sotheby’s, Cordell has invitations for national and international solo exhibitions later this year and into 2024, and with an ethic and attitude to match, his longevity is placed in good stead.

“Moving to painting full time late last year has been beneficial for my creativity. I am a perfectionist and work well to a deadline. I have shifted my discernment to where I am saying yes to the right opportunities with greater confidence and have found a process where I can move to various pieces with clarity and calm. I suffer migraines and since working full time they have eased, perhaps getting all these ideas out of my head is why…”

Cordell appears to have evolved to some sort of arrival. His earlier musings had figurative influences, although still incorporating landscape elements, he also used etching as a technique to embellish trees and foliage, no doubt remnants from his printmaking training. It’s as if his early work and indeed his hiatus from art, was a time of cognitive classifying and clearing that paved the way for his current style and eventually erupted after his mother’s passing.

“Although enjoyment is always the fore of what I do, I have space now to begin contemplating greater meaning in my work. I walk a lot and take photos of what I see, mostly nature, and I’d like to intentionally imbue my work with the meaning I align with those images while remaining loyal to the core of my aesthetic of course.”

Wherever he takes his next creative leap, it’s clear to me that whether in memory, heart or spirit, Glendon’s Mum won’t be far away quietly urging him along.

– Written by Monique Di Russo

AUCTIONS

2024 ‘ Afternoon Delight’ at Bonhams Auction, HK ($24,600 AUD) 91 x 91 cm
2024 ‘ Out of this World’ at Philip’s Auction, HK ($15,990), 101 x 76 cm
2024 ‘Sanctuary’ at Christies HK – ($17,300 AUD) 70 x 90cm

2024 ‘Mystic Mountains Gather’ (2022) at Sothebys Auction, London ($27,000 AUD) 91 x 91 cm

2023 ‘Big Sun’ (2022) at Bonhams Auction, HK ($22,500 AUD) 91 X 91 cm

2023 ‘White Flower’ at Bonhams Auction, HK ($19,900 AUD) 91 X 91 cm

2023 ‘Some Waterfalls’ at Philip’s Auction, HK ($38,000 AUD) 92 x 122 cm

2023 ‘Tomorrowland’ at Christie’s Auction, HK ($21,000 AUD) 76 x 76 cm

2023 ‘Walking Through The Shadows’ at Philips Auction, HK ($23,000 AUD) 76 x 76 cm

2023 ‘Lemon Tree’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($25,000 AUD) – 91.5 X 61 cm

2023 ‘Mountain View’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, London ($105,970 AUD) 91 x 91 cm

2023 ‘Floating Mountains’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($71,000 AUD) – 76 X 76 cm

2023 ‘Day Moon’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($45,000 AUD) – 91 x 91 cm

2023 ‘Everything Everywhere’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, NYC ($53,000 AUD) – – 91 x 91 cm

2023  ‘Five Trees Standing Watch’ sold at Bonhams Auction, HK ($100,000 AUD) – 91 x 152 cm

2023 ‘Take Me Somewhere Magical 2’ sold at Philips Auction, HK ($40,000 AUD) – 94 x 61 cm

2023 ‘Sunflowers and Clouds’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($53,000 AUD) – 76 x 76 cm

2023 ‘A Place Like No Other’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($18,000 AUD) – 76 x 76 cm

2022 ‘Climb Every Mountain’ sold at Sotheby’s Auction, HK ($19,000 AUD) – 91 x 122 cm

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025 Coming up: 19 April, Solo Show, GR Gallery NY, US
2024 Coming up: 28 December, Solo Show, VINS Art, Taiwan
2023 Vivid Realms Solo Show, 19 Karen Gallery, Mermaid Beach QLD, AUS
2021 Other Worldly Escapes Mini Solo Show, 19 Karen Gallery, Mermaid Beach QLD, AUS
2019 Threesome International Group Show, 19 Karen Gallery, Mermaid Beach QLD, AUS
2019 To Celebrate Who We Are, The Who Gallery VIC
2018 Local, Guggenart Gallery, Malvern, East Melbourne VIC
2017 Rotary Art Exhibition, Hobart TAS
2017 Nolan Gallery, Salamanca, Hobart TAS
2017 Entrepôt Art Group Exhibtion, University of Fine Arts TAS

EDUCATION

Bachelor Fine Arts (University of Tasmania)
Associate Diploma Fine Arts

FESTIVALS

2024 St Hilda Art Festival, St Hilda’s School, Gold Coast QLD