'The Traveller' | Bernard Ollis
27th March - 27th April 2019
Renowned figurative artist Bernard Ollis returns to Brisbane with his latest exhibition documenting his intrepid journeys within Australia and overseas. In his recognizable quirky style, Ollis has captured the feeling and emotion evoked of the plethora of places he has visited. Living between Paris and Sydney, Bernard Ollis has travelled to various destinations in search of inspiration for his energetic works of art.
Ollis’ paintings are heavily saturated with colour and portray playful interpretations of everyday scenarios. Ollis takes a view from a window or an urban park scene and turns them into fantastical scenes where buildings and trees converse and argue, dance and twirl. Inanimate objects and structures are given personalities of their own as Ollis distorts proportions, angles and viewpoints.
Seemingly imagined scenes, these works are depictions of his extensive travels - a pictorial album of his life. As Bernard Ollis explains, “they are not picture postcards, or the social media equivalent, but personal and original interpretations of special environments, developed over a prolonged period.”
With a career spanning over 50 years Bernard Ollis has held manysuccessful exhibitions and has been acquired in collections such as the National Art Gallery of Australia, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Queensland Art Gallery Brisbane and the Royal College of Art UK.
‘The Traveller’ is Bernard Ollis’ fourth solo exhibition at Mitchell Fine Art and is an interesting departure from his usual works on paper, with most paintings oil on linen.