Opening 5.30pm Friday 12 August
Artist in Conversation: Max Berry 2pm Saturday 27 August
View the exhibition publication here Book published by Deephouse Print studio Sydney (https://www.deephouseprintstudio.com.au/)
Max Berry is a Northern Territory born oil painter, currently practising in regional Queensland. His new show Cave of Bone examines the duality of perception, self & ritualsof everyday life. His recent work takes a nonlinear step back in time. Presenting a series of new work that explores the nature of life.
'I often romanticise Max’s life. After recently relocating to the country, escaping the chaos and opting for the simple and sustainable life. I think about him sitting watching the sunset and its colours. A narrative almost akin to a Go-Betweens song.
Sometimes I'll be sitting on the train looking out the window ~ watching the sky meet the water, making out a washy shoegaze situation, and I'll think to myself “ahh Berry”.
Max has an acute awareness for the cyclical nature of this world. Reflecting on its beauty and morbidity through his paintings, creating a mirage and multi dimensional feedback loop with his surroundings and audience. Constantly reimagining archetypal landscapes, themes and motives which stem from the real and an imaginary world,
Watching Max work first hand, his rituals and his respect for the quiet and reflective mind set - offered me a rare & first hand perspective into his introspective practice. Max Berry challenges the viewer to look at art in a non literal and interpretive way.
“Life and death and back and forth” through the lens of your own personal bone cave. Through the frame of Max Berry. In this life and the next.'
Exhibition description by Mitchell Tolman (@m.tolman_sydney)
Listen to the audio accompaniment composed by Morgan Wright (@morgherita) using recordings supplied by the artist. Listen Now
Bio
Since completing a Bachelor of Design at the UNSW Art and Design, Max Berry has received the Australian Council for the Arts ‘Artstart Grant’ and awarded the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award. Berry has been selected as a finalist in numerous art prizes including The Art Gallery of New South Wales Wynne Prize, The S H Ervin Gallery Salon De Refuse and the William Fletcher Travelling Art Scholarship.
Consecutive solo exhibitions interstate and overseas have led to acknowledgment in publications such Artist Profile and the Sydney Morning Herald. He has been selected for an artist residency programs at Bundanon Trust, Cill Rialaig Arts Center, Ireland and Nelimarkka Museo, Finland.