Sub Urban Mystic
27 August - 1 October 2022
David M Thomas
In collaboration with Weekend Immendorff, Suzanne Howard, Bridie Gillman, Queena Grot (AKA Pamela Rosel), Erika Scott, Rebecca Ross & Callum Galletly
Weekend Immendorff (Suzanne HOWARD and David M THOMAS) 2022 / The Good Listener / Detail in progress / 2.7 x 2.7m / Acrylic paint, ink on canvas / © David M Thomas
Sub Urban Mystic is an integration of art, philosophy and exhibition practice.
The central works are a series of large biomorphic and geomorphic paintings. The paintings or wall hangings expand and amplify drawings made by Suzanne Howard (1962-2018). Suzanne and David M Thomas were companions in life and art for 21 years, and were both founding members of Weekend Immendorff, beginning in 2013. Suzanne’s drawings are used here as instructional diagrams on how to connect mind, body and practice. They are also spiritual portals, gateways to the physical and mystical realms.
Sub Urban Mystic also incorporates works by Meanjin artists Bridie Gillman and Queena Grot (AKA Pamela Rosel). In the lead up to the installation David visited Bridie and Pamela in their separate studios to discuss their work and the story and ideas of this exhibition and to engage in what they have called “clay and conversation”.
The inclusion of modified biographical furnishings in the installation and the elimination of officious barriers emphasise the importance of the domestic as a shared intimate space for reflection and safety.
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JWAC Gallery
Cnr Brunswick and Berwick Streets
420 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley Q 4006
(map here)
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OPENING
Saturday 27 August 2022, 4-6pm, JWAC Gallery, 420 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley.
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David M. Thomas: An important way of working for Thomas is directed collaboration, which forms the basis for the production and participation in his Expanded works. His works have been exhibited widely throughout Australia, including the National Portrait Gallery, Monash Gallery, Queensland College of Art Gallery, The Museum of Brisbane, The University of Queensland Art Museum Casula Powerhouse and GOMA.
Queena Grot AKA Pamela Rosel, Queena Grot is about seeking form through spontaneity and wonder, balanced by this want to shape how light is thrown across a room, the shadows it creates, hoping that something imperfectly human emerges, something useful but also unique, timeless and its own way, ridiculous. Queena Grot is the self-taught ceramic practice of Pamela Rosel, a bi-cultural Filipino/Australian creative working of Meanjin. She is a digital designer by trade and this practice is her running away from that. Her work explores hope and intimacy through light and the hyper-personal. She is also the vocalist of Meanjin band Guppy.
Bridie Gillman is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is informed by ideas of place, and the ways in which experiences and memories shape our perspective of a site.
Weekend Immendorff: Suzanne Howard and David M Thomas began Weekend Immendorff as an electronic music and video collaboration that detours German and other Electronic Music and combines this with video montage. Their music is spontaneous - adhering to the maxim "there are no wrong notes" just opportunities for improvisation. Artist and musician Callum Galletly has been a member of WI since 2018.
Exhibition documentation by Louis Lim.
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This project has been assisted by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. |