There is no typical tableau for Stephen Bush. His technicolour gestures and ‘neo-surrealism’ take compositional cues from Romantic painters, and yet his marbled surfaces are adrift from a particular time or place.
As with any psychedelic journey, participants are encouraged to tap into their subconscious for depth of understanding. Materially, it has also been suggested that Bush discovers form through process. The post-colonial subtext of the artists work remains strong in ‘Festooned’. The show draws on a familiar iconography of goats, farm machinery, a milkman and others in regalia with equestrian and military flair that seem both random and carefully placed.
Sutton Gallery
15 October to 12 November, 2016
Melbourne
Linton, 2016, oil and enamel on linen, 95 x 95cm
Courtesy the artist and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
