Levels of Abstraction: Group Exhibition

Stella Corkery (NZ) / James Cousins (NZ) / Dale Frank (AUS) / Katharina Grosse (DE) / Andre Hemer (NZ) / Sara Hughes (NZ) / Simon Ingram (NZ) / Judy Millar (NZ/DE) / Miranda Parkes (NZ) / George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi (AUS)

Where abstraction was once a radical movement away from natural depiction and the illusion of reality, it has now become a central and ongoing concern for artists across the globe. Levels of Abstraction reflects contemporary concerns of artists working in the field of abstraction, their engagement with a substantial art history and development of its language.

Explorations of mark-making and of the act of painting draw connections between Judy Millar, Simon Ingram and Stella Corkery. Entering into a period where virtual interfaces are increasingly becoming the mode of viewing art, and moreover, a method of creating art (through digital painting applications and smartphones, to name a few) mark-making is addressed in relationship to technology and the advent of the screen.

Process and system form the basis of a variety of approaches. In the work of James Cousins, processes of layering, of interference and disruption lead to a questioning of the function of representation and the status of the image. For Australian artist Dale Frank, process draws attention to the physicality of material he works with: pigmented varnish that oozes across the surface with a visceral fluidity.

Featuring both national and international artists at varying points of their career, Levels of Abstraction is a curated selection of works underlining the continued significance of abstraction today.