A BIT MORE PAINT

5 Nov to 22 Jan 2023

“They say that the sequel is rarely as good as the original. However, there are, of course, exceptions. Take The Godfather: Part II, for example. Or Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Aliens is another. There’s even some debate around in what order the various Back to the Futures should be ranked. There are always deviations from the rule. And the thing is, the sequel usually features a number of the key cast from the first showing. There are no repeat performances in this exhibition.

Earlier in the year, Noosa Regional Gallery developed an exhibition that took a snapshot of younger and emerging artists embracing painting in their practices here on the Sunshine Coast. That might not seem like such a remarkable thing to some, however at a time when art schools often prioritise ideas over mastery of a medium; when digital technologies are so prevalent in our everyday lives that we take them for granted; not to mention that everyone is carrying around a camera in their pocket capable of shooting both moving and still images of an exhibitable quality, these artist have been building their work by placing the analogue and the tactile process of applying paint to canvas at the centre of what they do. But the other thing I found interesting about this group of artists, was how diverse and different their approaches to painting were. It got me thinking – how far can you push the medium of paint and still call what is being made, ‘painting’?

Does it matter – maybe not (and probably not to the artists we’ve brought together for this exhibition). But when we push things to their limit, it helps us understand what’s important about them, what makes them quintessentially part of a certain type of thing, and importantly, where our prejudices lie. It’s good to expand your view of the world.

This exhibition again brings together six artists who take painting and push it to places that don’t typically jump to mind when you talk about the medium. Alex Lange, Alicia Sharples, BJ Murphy, Casey Hewitt, Pippa Makgill and Thom Stuart steer painting into different spaces, times and dimensions, asking us to reassess our assumptions about what painting could and should be.

There’s no doubt that the original Back to the Future was an era-defining classic. But without the sequel, we couldn’t have dreamed up the possibility of hoverboards. Who doesn’t want one of them?!”

– Michael Brennan, Noosa Regional Gallery Director, A Bit More Paint Curator

THE ARTISTS