rex-livingston art dealer proudly presents “Playtime” an exhibition of new paintings by Melbourne artist Amanda van Gils. Opening Thursday 1st September the exhibition continues to 25th September. Recalling childhood, the images in Amanda van Gils’s paintings hover on the threshold of reality and imagination where Playtime allows anything to be possible. As with earlier work, van Gils continues to depict figures engaged in activities outside of their expected setting, causing the viewer to question relatively ordinary occurrences. The figures occupy indistinct space and time, and while the imagery is recognisably ‘real’ the figures are somehow dislocated from reality as if interpreted through the prism of childish imagination.
Poolside antics feature heavily with inflatable animal lilos brought to life, occasionally menacingly (as in “Unconvinced”), sometimes playfully (as in “Riding Home”). With titles like: “Chasey”, “Look Mum, no hands” and “Spiderman” the focus is clearly on child’s play.
These new works reveal a shift from earlier work further into the realm of fun and play; while the brooding romantic sensibility is still apparent this is often overridden by a pure sense of fun. The use of colour throughout the work reinforces this sense of fun along with a certain ‘dark joy’ inherent in many of the works.
Following on from recent exhibitions in New York and Berlin, “Playtime” is van Gils’s first solo exhibition in Sydney.
Amanda van Gils has been a Premiere Portfolio Artists at absolutearts.com since 2003. View more of her work at www.absolutearts.com/avangils.
IMAGE
Amanda van Gils
Title: Unconvinced
Year Created: 2005
Medium: Oil Painting
Width: 102 cm x Height: 127 cm x Depth: 5 cm
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