Additional Information

Ron Richards Red 01 by Miriam Cabello – Subject: Indigenous Australian Boxing Legends

Ron Richards is emblematic of culturally focused art and history projects that unearth forgotten stories and abusive power dynamics.

Boxing experts rank Richards as one of the finest boxers ever produced in this country.

But broken promises of world title fights and the start of WW2 saw an end to any dreams of Ron Richards becoming a World Champion.

By 1940 Richards was unfit and drank heavily. After a lucrative career with assets of up to £20,000, Richards was left destitute and, by 1946, was incarcerated several times.

Miriam’s “Glazing Black” creation introduces a fresh limited palette of transparent oil pigments. Black pigment (Ivory, Mars, Lamp Black) is not used, nor are complementary colours mixed to create black. After numerous experiments, selected pigments are optically mixed, resulting in a rich, luminous black.

Scientifically speaking, imagine that each layer of transparent paint you add to your painting is like glass. The light goes through it, hitting the image under the glass (the underpainting) then reflecting to your eye. The more transparent colour layers that are applied, the deeper and richer it appears when light hits the painting.

Series: Beyond the White Rope | Style: Spectral Kinetic Realism | Genre: Portrait Art | Themes: Heroes and Leaders, Freedom and Social Change, Identity, Conflict and Adversity