Leslie Thornton’s work is whimsical, invigorating, compelling and light-hearted. With an abiding interest in geography and geopolitics, he looks at cities, landscapes, buildings and places uniquely. Leslie takes what may seem mundane subjects and honours them with a tinge of facetiousness.
Leslie Thornton by accident or design has become the quintessential Castlemaine artist and chronicler of our world. This exhibition contains over 130 of his most compelling and whimsical works.
This is Castlemaine Art Museum’s and Les Thornton’s First Blockbuster.
Leslie Thornton: First Blockbuster
Castlemaine Art Museum
22 March until 7 July 2025
Opening
Sat 22 March at 2pm
Opening by Em. Pr. Chris McAuliffe
EMERITUS PROFESSOR,ANU School of Art & Design
Free entry. Opening Hours: Thurs-Sat 11am–4pm, Sun 12pm–4pm.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT SIR LES AND HIS WORK
“Very enriching to come to an exhibition and laugh”
“Very consistent and consistently funny” Suzanne Donisthorpe
“Sardonic, ironic, iconic” Suzanne Donisthorpe
“Les is from Another Time – but curiously totally engaged with the Here and Now. He’s like the Dr Who of Art.” Lisa D’Onofrio
“Les has the confidence to present the absurd” Mark Anstey
Les takes an idea and runs with it – in all sorts of directions. He takes it to the extremes of possibility and logic and then takes it further.” Mark Anstey
“He is a funny guy with a serious perspective” Craig McDonald
“He has different approaches to telling the truth – one’s coming from north and one’s coming from south – but both end up in the same spot.” Craig McDonald
“He is an artist always interested in the edge of the world.” Craig McDonald
“He paints the culture of Castlemaine – how it looks and feels – it’s strange little madnesses. He is content with his surroundings to make art – all roads lead to Castlemaine, sometimes quite literally!” Spook (Gary James)
“His work is unpretentious, humble, communal, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Like Les, humour is its greatest wisdom, asset and form of communion.” Candy Stevens
“His predominantly playful wit takes the familiar and exaggerates it, with the skill of a cartoonist.” David Murray-Smith
“It’s endearing how he is constantly amused by his own works – and our reaction to them.” David Murray-Smith
“Modern day Bloomsburyist” Linda Heyworth
“Behind his…..main obsessions, informing his life and work, is an appreciation of the human condition. This is not art to be chosen for adornment. It is not tame or pretty; nor is it predictable. It is risky and it is lived.” Linda Heyworth
“I like Castlemaine. Like Brisbane, there’s plenty of good stuff to paint” Les Thornton
“His work is a careful reconciliation between playfulness and precision” Lisa D’Onofrio
“Like a guitarist – if the audience dooesn’t like the song, they can admire the playing. If they don’t like the content, they (viewers) can appreciate the exactitude.” Les Thornton on his style.
“I want to go to a Les Thornton exhibition forever” Judy Laycock
“He gives us, the viewer, an opportunity to see more than what we would stumble across ourselves. He is the artist as a guide.” Katherine Seppings
“He is our alternative historian – connecting us to place through his art” Judy Laycock
MORE ABOUT SIR LES
An interview with Castlemaine artist and musician Sir Les Thornton by Lucy Armstrong
They were 20 in the 70s and are now 70 in the 20s and they have spent a lifetime making art. Suzanne Donisthorpe asked the artists some of the big questions- is it a privilege or a miracle to still be making art, do they care less or more about the world, are they more philosophical, and what about legacy, regrets and proud moments? And what at the end of day – is art after all?
Sir Leslie Thornton: Art Exhibition Caspa 1998 “Re-making Australia”
In early 2015, the Village Festival began talking with Castlemaine residents who have lived in the town for more than twenty years. Over many cups of tea, the elders of the town have shared a wealth of personal stories about this place: from heart-breaking to heart-warming and from quirky to the profound, these stories are Castlemaine’s hidden history.
