Hugo Michell Gallery was an immediate highlight of the Melbourne Art Fair because of it’s powerful works which are obviously strong conceptually as well as aesthetically.
The three artists presented at stand D07 are Trent Parke, Tony Garifalakis, and Tim Sterling, a combination which balances between light and dark, representational and abstract, and photographic, tactile, and sculptural.
Park’s documentary series ‘Minutes to Midnight’ presents a journey across Australia recorded in stark black and white photographs, depicting subject matters that are often violent and unsettling, of people, animals, landscapes and urban settings. The series is a substantial body of work that chronicles his trip into outback Australia, challenging fundamental questions of Australian identity by revealing a more brutal, dangerous and gloomy vision of outback culture.
Alongside Parke’s series is the work of Tony Garifalakis, who’s work explores apocalyptic themes similarly relevant to the sinister undertones of Park’s work. Garifalakis looks at the idea of the apocalypse through graphic representations and symbolism of religion and political agendas, through collage of cut denim which hang heavily on the walls. They contain a satisfying weight and tactility, in some cases stitched together with safety pins, the materiality of the work tying effectively in to it’s concept.
On the opposite side of the space, the work of Tim Sterling provides a lighter work which provides a nice balance between the bleakness of Parke and Garifakis, and a more sculptural, abstract and open body of work.
Smaller scale works can be seen in the back room, giving an excellent opportunity to read further into the work after their initial reaction.
