EXHIBITED IN GALLERY I
26TH MAY - 10TH JUNE 2023
Featuring: Chris Watts, Daniel Mcauley, Helena McConochie, Kyle KM, Paink, Heath Nock & Hilton Owen
GROUP SHOW
1978
Acrylic on canvas
150 X 150cm
CHRIS WATTS
Chris Watts is an award-winning graphic designer, singer-songwriter and illustrator who now has embraced paint as another medium.
Inspired by the Pop Art movement and his love of Warhol, Watt's works deliver a burst of colour and impact on a grand scale. They provide a contemporary view on the global landscape of fashion, style and attitude.Taking reference from popular culture much like iconic Pop artists before him, Watt's large scale canvases and use of 70s pop colour have helped him create a fun and animated world within his work
Watt's figures have a certain level of confidence which is only enhanced by his use of a large scale canvas. The characters he creates exhibit no shame in their stance, style, actions and give no sense of embarrassment which can the viewer to try and find themselves within the work, almost as is Watts has created their alter ego.
Champagne, motorcycles and The King of Rock and Roll are Watts choice of subject matter for this group show, really playing into the sense of freedom, fun and nostalgia that is easily received and enjoyed by his audience.
Blue Suede Shoes
Acrylic on canvas
120 X 170cm
Diamonds in the rough
Mixed media
115 x 76cm
Wonderlust, 2023
Mixed media on canvas
91 x 76cm
Nature of the material
Mixed media on canvas
88 x 115cm
Why you little
Resin printed sculpture
45 x 34cm
DANIEL MCAULEY
Daniel McAuley is a multi disciplinary artist and tattoo artist from Melbourne Australia. McAuley is very much inspired by popular culture with his use of nostalgic imagery such as characters from iconic television shows and films. McAuley juxtaposes these references with a chaotically fractured aesthetic, leading the viewer to identify who he is depicting, which heightens a sense of nostalgia. McAuley creates a world within his canvases which is so decadently anarchic that the viewer can't help but feel enamoured. This feeling, alongside his wistful characters is why McAuley is a key figure to watch in todays art scene.
McAuley enjoys exploring the process of inner dialogue, including how the mind and body can internalize external dialogue. He is specifically interested in moments when new information is received and challenged against previous knowledge.
We are living in a world with constant overstimulation, How do we process that? McAuley hopes to express a feeling of uncertainty and spontaneity and give insight into how he understands his own and also others lived experiences.
Binge Culture
Mixed Media on canvas, not stretched
188 x 150 cm
Why Me, 2023
Mixed media on canvas
81 x 101cm
Clara, 2023
Oil on Canvas
101cm x 122cm
Georgie, 2023
Oil on canvas
62cm x 62cm
HELENA MCCONOCHIE
Flowers have been an integral part of human experience spanning the gamut of interpretations throughout history. Sacred, artistic, decorative, scientific - but always enjoyed for their beauty. Artists traditionally choose flowers as subjects, because of the challenge in their variety of form and colour. It is easy to overlook the technical skill needed to render the vibrant, complex subtleties of colour and form that are unique to flowers.
Walking the long path of art history, we see voluptuous garlands of flowers frescoed on the walls of patrician Roman villas; flower motif gold jewellerv in early Medieval times; virtuosos floral renderings in Caravaggio's The Lute Player, and Francisco Goya's flowered ribbon on the gown of the Duchess De Benavente. Closer in time, The Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gough and Edgar Degas, who hated flowers in the dining rooms of his hosts, painted some beautiful floral compositions.
Within the last hundred years we have witnessed a major stylistic movement, Art Nouveau where flowers played a huge role. Elegant, elongated and curved flowers appear in architecture, mosaics, glass windows, ceramic tiles, furniture and graphic art.
My inspiration for this current exhibition comes from two artists that have immersed themselves in flower paintings: early Avant-Garde artist of American Modernism, Georgia O'Keefe and today's amazing artist Tim Maguire.
Andra, 2023
Oil on Canvas
102cm x 91cm
Felicity, 2023
Oil on Canvas
152cm x 122cm
He/Him
Oil on canvas
2020
56.3 x 66.5 cm framed
Reuben
Oil on canvas
2020
71 x 60.7 cm framed
KING IV
Oil on canvas
2019
71.4 x 81.6 cm framed
Spectrum
Oil on canvas
2022
71 x 60.7 cm framed
KYLE KM
This exhibition embodies a profound exploration of fragments, echoes, and traces left behind.
Kyle Km (he/him) presents a collection of six oil paintings. Portraits completed over three years of his life and a culmination of his last two main bodies of work Queer Royalty and Gods & Not.
The gothic current running through Kyle’s artwork embraces the beauty in darkness, the allure of the macabre, and the shadows that linger on the fringes of society. Delving into these darker realms, revealing the fragments of gothic subcultures, and their intricate relationship with queer identity.
Drawing inspiration from his own experience, Kyle unearths the remnants of personal narratives, stories, and emotions that often remain hidden beneath the surface. These portraits serve as windows into the complexities of queer identity, inviting viewers to reexamine their own preconceptions and assumptions.
REMNANTS is a call to action, urging viewers to examine their own perceptions and prejudices while embracing the power of empathy and understanding. Through the historical medium of oil painting explore the hidden depths of Kyles queer experience. As we confront the remnants of the past and navigate the complexities of the present.
The historical importance of cataloguing identity cannot be understated.
Throughout history, marginalised communities have faced erasure and exclusion, leading to the loss of entire cultures through fascism and hatred. In this exhibition, Kyle takes on the role of an archivist, documenting and preserving the remnants that we have today. By capturing these stories in oil paintings, he aims to create a tangible record that withstands the test of time, allowing future generations to bear witness to the beauty, resilience, and diversity of these often-misunderstood communities.
Sitters: Bo Bickmore, Cynthia Sobraty, KING IV, Kyle KM, Minnie Taur, Reuben Baron.
Babel
Oil on canvas
2022
56.3 x 66.5 cm framed
Minnie Taur
Oil on canvas
2019
70.8 x 81.0 cm framed
PAINK
Paink is a Melbourne based artist well known for his distinctive contemporary street art. With a graphic design background his artworks evolve from on screen to canvas. Known for his bold, innovative and provocative style, Paink enjoys working on large scale pieces with a strong eye for proportion and colour. His works include murals, canvas and prints.
Paink's style has evolved, with his earlier pieces largely monochromatic and one dimensional. As the connection with colour grew, Paink has been able to expand on not only the detail in his pieces but also the diversity of the application of mediums.
His style is mainly influenced from the love of colour and street art. He is fascinated by portraiture and gets absorbed in the shapes and angles of the human face. Paink's pieces are layered in terms of technique and thought. He adds hidden quotes, shapes and detail to keep people intrigued and to entice them to look deeper into the piece beyond its surface.
Paink now describes his works as street art with a focus on realism, portraiture and proportion, that has been emphasised by his graphic design background.
Poppin' & Hoppin', 2023
Cut paper collage, Spray paint and acrylic on canvas
106cm x 106cm
HEATH NOCK
Living and working on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Heath treats his painting with the work ethic of the showman, the craft of the tattooer and the imagination of an artist. He brings a unique vision to well established painterly genres, in turn expanding the tradition of painting as only a true showman can.
This self-taught tattooer brings something of that subculture to his painting. He has made a conscious effort to meet the tradition of painting squarely on its own terms, by studying and reading to challenge his well-honed graphic sensibility and embrace the painterly edge. His touch is becoming more gestural, more expressive with each passing show, the tattooed vignette is making way for images wholly conscious of the conventions of Western painting.
To know all this is to begin to understand the creative mind of Heath Nock, whose energetic landscapes and surreal still life paintings are a hit with fellow painters and collectors alike. As a kid, he would arrange the plush prizes and trinkets of side show alley into odd tableaux of unexpected variety, allowing poetic associations to form between disparate objects. Then, it was off to another town, young Heath watching the Australian landscape whirl by.
Delicate sound of thunder,
2023
Oil on polycotton
122 x 152cm
Woman In A Black Dress, 2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas
76 x 66cm
HILTON OWEN
Hilton Owen is an Australian artist based in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Hilton’s work focuses on the human figure and incorporates the stylisation of form, colour and structure to depict uniquely evocative images of contemporary life. Hilton is most definitely a rising star in the art world. He has held fourteen solo exhibitions of his paintings and won several art prizes as well as being selected as a finalist in numerous others. Hilton began painting at a young age, staging two sold- out solo exhibitions aged 18 and 19 while completing his Fine Arts degree at the University of Tasmania. In 2019 he completed an Honours degree at the Victorian College of the Arts, after which he was chosen as one of three (of 50) students to represent the university in the Nino Sanciolo Art Prize.
About his practice Hilton says, “I work with the differences and potential cross overs in figurative painting, abstraction and portraiture. I am fascinated and intrigued by the malleability of contemporary life and society and I strive to find novel ways to interpret and represent visually the ever-changing diversity and social complexities that I see around me."
Red Couch, 2022,
Oil and acrylic on canvas
76 x 60 cm