Figurative painting’s narrative can hint at new worlds in a myriad of ways, and these days, it’s refreshing to be immersed in the artist’s views rather than the news feed.
Liz Maw has made her own universe from blending the obscure with classic iconography. Her technique is almost painfully sharp, every detail shown in a stark and exacting manner that transcends realism. These paintings force their own reality, where everything is plainly stated yet any meaning completely opaque. At Ivan Anthony Gallery, Maw’s latest works glow on the walls.
In the centrepiece, Te Ra, a near life-size crucifixion has been clear-cut, its pale checkerboard background ready for your choice of new environs. The brilliant clash of a gold cross with a spill of violet fabric distract from the central deviance – a hand down loincloth. The martyr disregards his predicament in favour of the erotic embrace. Yet the true seduction is of us, the viewer, by the dazzling opulence of the painting itself, the startling clarity of colour and shape made sharper still by the indifferent grey squares from a computer program.
The paintings of Sam Mitchell at Melanie Roger Gallery use the universe of our past to create rich treasure maps of colour. Painted on the reverse of shiny Perspex, a brilliantly coloured figure dominates the work, perhaps a polychromatic avatar of the artist. Holding on to their blue skin like tatu are notes from the past, Easter eggs of information that seek to pique and then satisfy our curiosity. These are homage to iconic artists and authors, parts of their lives affixed to the artist. In the work, Pat names of places and people are inscribed next to visual cues for Pat Hanley’s most famous paintings.
Mitchell’s work shows how history’s narratives become our own, pieces of culture and pop breaking from the outside world to become embedded inside us. The influence of our idols becomes part of us, allowing us to select, absorb, and adapt these threads of culture into new forms.
Paintings' narratives help us see many other ways of experiencing the world, slower and steadier than the news feed. (EVAN WOODRUFFE, Studio Art Supplies)
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