|
14 of Brisbane’s most celebrated artists come together to sweat the small stuff
Brisbane visual artist, Nick Ashby has assembled a veritable who’s who of the burgeoning Brisbane art scene to exhibit in the group exhibition, DOWNSIZE, opening March 4 at Metro Arts Galleries.
The group of 14 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists includes; Christopher Bennie, Gordon Craig, Matt Dabrowski and the Many Hands of Glamour, Christian Flynn, Matt Malone, Sebastian Moody, Shaun O'Connor, Pamela See, Elizabeth Shaw, Gabriella Szablewska, Simone Tops, Carl Warner, Brent Wilson and Nick Ashby.
The works for Downsize feature a diverse range of media including cast glass, metalsmithing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and video - creating a massive exhibition that celebrates going small.
People are always looking to downsize – smaller cars, smaller phones, smaller laptops – are they now looking for smaller artwork?
Nick Ashby has lured back home some of Brisbane’s hottest visual artists, tapping into the strong sense of community within the bright Brisbane visual arts scene.
New York-based artist, Shaun O’Connor, will return home to Brisbane to present his playful works inspired by skateboarding and street culture.
Brisbane-based Gabriella Szablewska has created a strange and fantastic world that exists entirely in a bell jar, inciting thoughts of a god-like existence to the viewer.
Gordon Craig’s inspiration for his small-scale works comes from equally small incidents. His tiny woodblock prints document small events like the overheard phrase “Like an octopus falling from a tree”.
For this exhibition Dabrowski has produced a work called Key Self Portrait. Where we normally find the profile on our keys that matches our own locks, Dabrowski has cut the profile of his face in silhouette
“Working on a smaller scale can have a liberating effect through both the reduced cost of productions but more importantly through the focus and distillation that occurs when working in this pared back form”, says Ashby.
|