1969 Comeback Special 27 August – 6 November 2016

In June 1972, Painted Relief No. 11 was the winning painting in the Benson and Hedges Art Award at the Canterbury Society of Arts. Selected by the judge Elwyn Lynn from Sydney University’s Power Gallery of Contemporary Art, the work is part of a series of painted panel reliefs created by Driver during 1971–72. With its non-representational horizontal bands of colour, the painting created quite a stir throughout the country when it won the award. Driver added to the controversy when he stated the work was not one the average man would like: “I didn’t make it for popularity. I did it because that’s what I do... I try to create tensions between colours, shapes, shadows and reflections to create simplicity and ambiguity. And that, I think, is among the qualities the judge saw.” Muir agreed with the judge and acquired the work for the Gallery’s collection.