Artist Brett Weir Presents First Major Solo Exhibition in Sydney
Acclaimed artist Brett Weir returns to his native Australia to unveil his first major solo exhibition in Sydney. To be exhibited at the art gallery Michael Reid Sydney from Thursday 28 February to 30 March 2019, this new series is widely anticipated on the back of Weir's successful career in Europe where his profile continues to grow from his adopted home in Zürich.
Venue: Michael Reid Sydney
Date: Thursday 28 February to Saturday 30 March 2019
Date: Thursday 28 February to Saturday 30 March 2019
Weir has divided his time equally between Switzerland and Gippsland, Australia for the past decade. However, he has gradually turned his focus back on Australia in the past 12 months. In March 2018, he presented the body of work Lunar Paintings at the newly redeveloped Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale in Victoria. Building on that momentum, he will present his first major solo exhibition in Sydney at Michael Reid gallery as part of Art Month 2019, and he will also feature at the gallery's Sydney Contemporary Art Fair stall in September 2019.
Weir works primarily on aluminium and copper, drawing inspiration from his environment, memory and various musical influences. Weir has an obsession with surface, material and colour, applying paint to the aluminium sheets with brushes, squeegees and other tools.
In front of Weir's paintings, the viewer senses a warmth, tangible energy seeping through the surface of each panel. The unique shifting surfaces of enamel on aluminium recall glittering celestial maps, organic compositions and sonic resonances. The works juxtapose swathes of colour and form in ethereal compositions to create immediately arresting paintings.
When in Australia, the artist resides at his home and studio built by hand in the remote surrounds of Walkerville, Gippsland. The location has a long history of inspiring artists: it was where Fred Williams reinvented the Australian landscape tradition in 1971. Weir's paintings also occasionally reference other artists of note such as Gerhard Richter's abstracts or James McNeill Whistler's nocturnes. However, his artworks have a singular and unique vision and his exploration of colour is unlike any artist working in Australia today.
Weir's paintings have a strong concern for science and metaphysics. They are scientific in that they explore matter; the quality of paint is informed by the interaction of chemicals, of substance and colour. Weir works methodically according to a self-defined process similar to a scientist at work in a laboratory. He has the alchemic code to transform the ordinary into the extra-ordinary. The artist explains that he works intuitively and without expectation, constructing each painting 'akin to a piece of nature.'
The exhibition runs Thursday 28 February to Saturday 30 March 2019 at Michael Reid Sydney, Surry Hills.
Weir works primarily on aluminium and copper, drawing inspiration from his environment, memory and various musical influences. Weir has an obsession with surface, material and colour, applying paint to the aluminium sheets with brushes, squeegees and other tools.
In front of Weir's paintings, the viewer senses a warmth, tangible energy seeping through the surface of each panel. The unique shifting surfaces of enamel on aluminium recall glittering celestial maps, organic compositions and sonic resonances. The works juxtapose swathes of colour and form in ethereal compositions to create immediately arresting paintings.
When in Australia, the artist resides at his home and studio built by hand in the remote surrounds of Walkerville, Gippsland. The location has a long history of inspiring artists: it was where Fred Williams reinvented the Australian landscape tradition in 1971. Weir's paintings also occasionally reference other artists of note such as Gerhard Richter's abstracts or James McNeill Whistler's nocturnes. However, his artworks have a singular and unique vision and his exploration of colour is unlike any artist working in Australia today.
Weir's paintings have a strong concern for science and metaphysics. They are scientific in that they explore matter; the quality of paint is informed by the interaction of chemicals, of substance and colour. Weir works methodically according to a self-defined process similar to a scientist at work in a laboratory. He has the alchemic code to transform the ordinary into the extra-ordinary. The artist explains that he works intuitively and without expectation, constructing each painting 'akin to a piece of nature.'
The exhibition runs Thursday 28 February to Saturday 30 March 2019 at Michael Reid Sydney, Surry Hills.