Marco Luccio was invited by acclaimed Australian writer John Hughes to respond to 14 original fables about Australian animals that undergo a transformation to become human. Usually it is through some wicked, traumatic and at times frightening, event that the transformation occurs. With 80 etchings in the exhibition, 60 of these are reproduced in the book of the same name.
While thematically grounded in Hughes’ kingdom of animal warriors, poets, healers and thieves, Luccio’s etchings are based on months of close study of specimens at both Sydney and Melbourne museums, as well as the dynamic inhabitants of the Melbourne Zoo. This careful observational drawing, a distinguishing feature of Luccio’s artistic practice, conveys a solid, earthy reality that acts as backdrop to a shifting and moving, often stark, emotional content.
Rex-Livingston Art Dealer
5 to 21 December, 2013
Sydney
The Making of Time 2, 2013, etching on Velin Arches, 25 x 20cm
Courtesy the artist and Rex-Livington Art Dealer