A determination made in 2007 to briefly conduct an un-cliched study of Australian painting has turned into an ongoing project for Juan Ford. Since then, his paintings have become an unceremonious mash of realism, botanical illustration and detritus filled landscapes.
In this series, the boundaries between landscape and portraiture are blurred, questioning these ‘traditional’ demarcations. Ford’s project focuses on the idea that human hubris will be our own undoing, and thus mocks the tendency of painted realism to salute colonialism, and the nature-fearing, resource-devouring, self-destructive attitudes it embodies.
Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects
Until October 13, 2012
Melbourne
Form Follows Friction, 2012, oil on linen, 107 x 92cm
Courtesy the artist and Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects
