GEOFF HARVEY
Gallipoli Narrative
Acrylic on Canvas Boards (Diptych)
133 x 218cm
The ill-fated Gallipoli campaign took 8 months to unfold on Turkish soil.
From the landing to the eventual retreat the stories of hardships & sacrifices continued to grow through the ever-changing seasons. Set against this rugged, uninhabitable landscape the ANZAC’s clung to life in makeshift trenches & tents. And did what they needed to do to stay alive.
To tell some of these individual stories I have assembled 12 visual chapters or paintings bound by time, fate & history. And they are presented in the style of an open book with each unique chapter sitting next to each other, so it can be viewed as one. They are laid out visually & the sequence is not a timeline of the events but rather an overview of the soldier’s lives in Gallipoli.
Each chapter has an individual title & theme. With it’s own story.
These titles are from left to right:
Top row : 1. Fallen trooper  2. The landing  3.  Wounded horse   4.  Chaplin Walter Dexter.
Middle row: 5.  Nurse Kelly  6. Simpson & his donkey 7.  Winter mission  8. Water carrier
Bottom row: 9 Wounded   10. Night guard   11. Dug in 12. Letters from home.
