GUGGI

Across paintings on canvas and paper, Guggibuilds up fields of intense colour layered withthe bold, curving outlines of simple vessels andsmudgy, broken crosses. In the exhibition’s titularpainting Them, two linear forms ascend on theleft-hand side of the picture plane – abstract andtotem-like motifs that represent the artist’s lateparents. Layered over four pencil-drawn bowls, a gossamer wash of white paint, and the coarse,jagged finish of the paper itself, the figures enter adynamic but harmonious relationship with shape,line, gesture, and colour.

In new works of mixed media, Guggi’s signature motifs of boldly simplified utilitarian objects appear on large-scale photographs documenting the home of his late father, Robbie. The house and its surroundings in Robertstown are a treasure trove of Robbie’s life, filled with the vast array of objects he accumulated: among them dozens of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, truck containers, a rusty van with his name on it, and the stock from his bicycle wholesale business. Guggi has extensively photographed this fascinating personal archive, capturing his father’s passion for “anything on wheels” before layering the images with painted forms. The result is a poetic bricolage and a unique collaboration between father and son.

Them also sees Guggi continue his series Broken. Across paintings on canvas and paper, the artist builds up fields of intense colour layered with the bold, curving outlines of simple vessels and smudgy, broken crosses. Meanwhile, in the titular painting, Them, two linear forms ascend on the left-hand side of the picture plane – abstract and totem-like motifs that represent the artist’s late parents. Layered over four pencil- drawn bowls, a gossamer wash of white paint, and the coarse, jagged finish of the paper itself, the figures enter a dynamic but harmonious relationship with shape, line, gesture, and colour. Them also includes four small, whitewashed urns – the kind of meditatively simple common objects of utility that have formed the subject matter of Guggi’s paintings for decades – and a 58cm- diameter bronze bowl, matte black except for its polished rim, absorbing and reflecting light in turn.

Over the past three decades, Guggi has achieved recognition for his drawing, painting and sculpture using the quotidian beauty of household objects to reflect on the human experience. Through his expressive use of shape, line, gesture, and colour, he imbues simplified everyday objects with great emotional resonance and feeling. Described by the artist as his most auto-biographical exhibition yet, Them sees the artist’s established forms and techniques applied to a deeply personal subject matter – the recent loss of his parents – presenting us with an exhibition of diverse media and emotional range. Rich in poetic expression, the works in Them invite us to reflect on memory, the passing of time, familial bonds, and the objects that tell the stories of our lives.

Press release courtesy Kerlin Gallery