Shoegazer, a diverse group of drawings made during the extended Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown, is a playful allusion to that sub-genre of indie rock, Shoegaze, but more so to the attention one pays to subjects and prompts found close at hand... almost underfoot.
These somewhat introspective images are (for me) tender and intuitive encounters with observation, composition and mood.
Whether the accidental abstractions of foot-path repairs, a tenacious dandelion emerging from a crevice, a spill of obscure yet florescent liquid, a crazy-patterned mural or so much carelessly discarded detritus, these are perhaps modest as subjects for attention, yet ripe in association.
Modest but insistent. Each has had a particular resonance, indicative of those rare moments where we slow and take note of the otherwise insignificant things - those passing moments of contemplation, evocations of some febrile mood perhaps, or else a simple wondering and amusement at the actions that might have conjured them into being.
And in contemplating modest things, in the very action of glancing down, we place our body in a different relationship to the world – one both intimate and forensic – as we sense, sort and order the bewildering variety all around us. These drawings are intent on fixing those contemplative moments for a little longer, and serve as touchstones for future painting.
– Andrew Browne, October 2020
Press release courtesy Tolarno Galleries.
104 Exhibition Street, Level 4
Melbourne, 3000
Australia
www.tolarnogalleries.com
+61 3 9654 6000
+61 3 9654 7000 (Fax)
The gallery is temporarily closed until further notice.
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Saturday: 1pm–5pm