Still Life Contemporary Art Exhibition
Archibald Prize finalist Mirra Whale examines the way humans personify, interpret and curate the world around us in her second solo exhibition at Mitchell Fine Art in Fortitude Valley.
Mirra Whale is a Sydney based artist who explores everyday subjects and presents them from another angle. Her artworks explore the formal and conceptual limits of the genre of still life.
Groups of everyday objects take on human characteristics in Whale’s latest exhibition ‘Orange Blue’. The focus is on the placement of these objects and their relationship with both each other and with shadow and light.
‘Jars, vinegar bottles, milk containers and plant cuttings have been stripped of any identifying labels or stickers and yet are immediately recognisable’, say Whale.
‘They are placed into situations that are discernibly a gossip circle, a parade, or a street procession. There are individuals that are being embraced, whispered to, and excluded. And yet they are only a sauce bottle or a vase’.
The artworks in this exhibition have been pared back to muted tones and simple compositions of conventional, mundane objects.
The shadows that they caste resemble city skylines or contorted, prehistoric landscapes. Orange hues give the illusion of brilliant sunsets and dramatic weather events, until you realise that they are colours on a tablecloth with the detritus of some long-finished meal or human gathering.
These works are an exploration of colour and composition, approaching the subject matter in a playful, tongue in cheek manner.
NEED TO KNOW:
Showing - 19th July to 6th August.
Opening Night - Friday 2nd July, 6 - 8pm with Mirra in attendance.
All events are free, no rsvp’s required.
Mitchell Fine Art is located at 86 Arthur St in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. The gallery is open 6 days a week and provides free onsite parking.
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To enquire on any artworks phone 07 3254 2297 or email admin@mitchellfineartgallery.com.