Book Review: Piano Man

Abstract

Ken Unsworth is one of the great maverick figures in Australian contemporary art. He became an artist almost by accident and never developed a template style. Although he spent much of his life teaching, he has been generally scathing in his assessment of art schools. Throughout his art practice, he has walked a fine line between the more esoteric art forms embraced by the biennale and triennial art circuits, rich in cultural capital, and more democratic art forums, such as Sculpture by the Sea, characterised by its mass appeal and huge audiences. Unsworth’s suspended river stones, Suspended stone circle II, 1974-77, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, remains a great crowd drawcard and one of the most popular works in the gallery’s collection.