John Spiteri has been making paintings since the early 1990s. Traversing the distances (great or small) between figuration and abstraction, his practice has seen a gradual shift towards non-representational painting. Implementing a full index of painterly gestures, and utilising a range of tools and processes, Spiteri’s work is an ongoing, personal experiment that unpacks the many possibilities of painting production. Spiteri’s compulsive and inventive mark-making is also anattempt to preserve the uncertainty of material outcomes, which act unpredictably in his highly idiosyncratic compositions. Spiteri’s interest in pre-human contexts, fctional spaces, and the dissolvable constructs that bridge meaning and meaninglessness result in paintings which invite a philosophical response from an active viewer, who is encouraged to make connections between the titles, details and compositions, attempting to solve or decipher the paintings.
Read MoreIn all paintings, there is an atmospheric quality—a feeling that the marks are ephemeral, foating. Subtraction is fundamental to this quality and also Spiteri’s oeuvre. After loading the surface of the canvas, Spiteri often wipes, dabs, lifts-off, or scratches into the paint while wet, leaving behind shadowy remnants; characteristics that impart the strong sense of absence in his work. A range of painting tools have been used to affect the surface in a series of juxtapositions; from larger sweeps of translucent colour, to intimate abrasions and finely-painted microscopic details. There is an overriding sense that something is brewing in these seductive petri dishes—something primordial.
Within his mark-making repertoire, Spiteri shifts between that which is automatic (denoting the personal, fortuitous language of the body), and that which is deliberate (denoting conscious intent). Although the sketch-like gestures give the illusion of speed, some paintings take months to complete with Spiteri only working on one painting at a time until finished. The tentative quality of Spiteri’s paintings, born from intentionally unpredictable painting processes, activate a deep sense of discovery. The surface—layered, stripped and embellished—acquires meaning in a similarly progressive manner. Over time, the ambiguity of the abstract compositions and their fictional titles reveal personal narratives—ones with much more slippery realities.
John Spiteri (b.1967, Sydney. Lives and works in Sydney, Australia) has been exhibiting at Sarah Cottier Gallery since 2001. He completed a Master of Fine Arts at UNSW College of Fine Arts in 2001 and studied at Goldsmiths College, London in 1996 and 2002. Spiteri’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in major institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and in the Liverpool and Gwangju biennials.
Text courtesy Sarah Cottier Gallery.
