Odyssey
6 October – 6 November 2021
Mitchell Fine Art, Fortitude Valley
Odyssey is Stewart MacFarlane’s first Australian exhibition since 2018, three years in the making and impacted by the changing world and restrictions to global travel. It has been a time defined by experiences fraught with adversity, discomfort, confusion, and torment following his decision in to relocate from Australia and live in the US.
This exhibition is mostly painted in three American locations: Roswell, New Mexico; Savannah, Georgia and St George Island, Florida, with a few works from Australia also featuring in the exhibition.
Stewart MacFarlane is a figurative artist whose work is saturated with contrasting blocks of colour and exaggerated angles. His paintings are dramatic narratives – uncertain and unsettling. MacFarlane likes the idea of telling stories but has never really given a painting a ‘story’ – he likes the viewer to interpret what is going on.
Much of his work is made to have an uncertain narrative in it, leaving the painting open, rather than having an obvious image that sums up things for the viewer. With his implied scenarios and visual clues, his works raise more questions than answers as he entices the audience to play detective and solve the mystery.
Stewart MacFarlane’s work is widely collected and is represented, amongst others, in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and many regional institutions.
For more information, visit the Mitchell Fine Art website
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