A blend of autobiography, lavishly illustrated coffee table, catalogue and retrospective this is a stunning book that is so pleasing to the eye.

There is a great introduction / early autobiography by Woods himself and then the book moves chronologically in a series of short essays through his dramatic life. An ‘artist’s artist ‘, born in Hobart in 1940 Anthony (Tony) David Woods developed an interest in the visual very early on. Initially focusing on watercolour landscapes of Hobart he became interested in figurative work.

In 1968 Woods was awarded a Harkness Fellowship, which allowed him to live and work for two years in New York City where he developed an interest in abstraction. Following the destruction of his New York studio by a major fire, Woods returned desolately to Australia, at first to Sydney.

The early 1970’s saw the expansion of his friendship with Brett Whitely and Martin Sharp leading to a major exhibition in Melbourne and then a move to Melbourne in 1971 where he has remained ever since , living in Fitzroy since the 1980s. Woods recommenced painting – as it says in Palmer’s essay ‘ Over the next decade Tony turned his attention to the still life, portraiture , a continuing fascination with potted plants and a return to shadows and light sources ‘. and in later years developed an interest in super 8 video and sound recording.

Since 1962 Woods has staged many solo exhibitions around Australia and he has featured in numerous group exhibitions. He is represented in major institutional, public and private collections both in Australia and internationally.

Alex Selenitsch has written a fascinating analysis of Wood’s actual painting technique, his use of light, line, shape and form. Phil Edwards essay ‘Tony Woods – The Field Recordings’  briefly looks at Woods long involvement in those areas of his work , an extension of his keen artist’s eye and ear. Lesley Chow provides a thrilling short essay on Wood’s ‘Light’ series of paintings and his film work.

There is a very handy fold out chronology at the back of the book and a well researched time line as well as starkly detailed photographic portraits of Wood. But mostly it is the glorious works of art – paintings, drawings, prints that are lavishly featured in this superb book. They are generally  vibrant ,bold and colourful .You can see a Picasso , Van Gough and Coburn influence in certain works and his change from early figurative to abstraction . Some of the ‘light’ series are fragile, delicate and shimmering, others vividly leap out at the viewer.

Included with the book is a fascinating DVD, featuring a 55 min documentary ‘Work for the eyes to do ‘, about Wood’s life and career . It has a number of interviews with Woods himself as well as several of those who have contributed to the book – Stephen Walker, Nick Lyon, Vivian Smith, Terry Whelan, Sue Backhouse, Jon Cattapan, Godwin Bradbeer , George Davis , Max Angus, Nick Selenitsch and John Aslandis among others.

TONY WOODS: ARCHIVE (ISBN978-1-925-003-14-7), edited by Andrew Gaynor, published by artinfo.com.au and distributed by Australian Scholarly Publishing (ASP), is to be launched at Black Projects in Melbourne on Sunday August 18 and will be available at all good bookstores retailing at $79.95.