In his most ambitious project to date, Brisbane-based artist Ryan Presley presents ten new large-scale paintings and three existing paintings: diptychs and triptychs, with the sardonic title Fresh Hell. Presley’s reinterpretations of religious iconography paintings pose vibrant and powerful illustrations in oil paint and gold leaf that speak of the interplay between physical, cultural and spiritual violence, and reference the relationship between religious conversion and land repossession, and the accompanying “civilising” narrative that has been utilised to justify these actions.
Ryan Presley, Aeronautics (what goes up must come down), 2020, oil, synthetic gold, and 23 carat gold leaf on poly-cotton, 182 × 152cm. Collection of Artbank, Sydney/Melbourne. Courtesy the artist, Milani Gallery, Queensland and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, South Australia
Adelaide Contemporary Experimental
3 September to 29 October 2022
South Australia
