Polo explores this space with his characters, oddballs and misfits, whose bodies are submerged within a surface of swirling layers of paint, varied brushstrokes and painting techniques that create a complex surface plane where foreground and background appear to merge, melting from one state into the next. Lingering on a threshold of presence and absence, what is painted in and what is painted out, Polo's figures, — looming characters — are both revealed and concealed creating a surface tension that draws attention to the spaces in-between.
Read MorePolo was a finalist of the Archibald and Sulman prizes at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2018 and awarded the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2015. He completed residencies at Parramatta Artists' Studios Rydalmere, Sydney (2019-20); Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy (2018); Art Space, Sydney (2017); the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2016) and ACME Studios, London (2016). His work has been included in several group exhibitions in Australia and internationally and placed in public and private collections in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Text courtesy Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
