Having previously shown at Hell Gallery and Utopian Slumps, artist Brendan Huntley and his family of quirky clay sculptures and paintings have now found a home far above Exhibition Street. Tolarno Galleries welcomes their new artist for his first solo show, opening this weekend.
Huntley's series of large ceramic vessels are full of personality. Each object resembles a kind of mask, with two holes standing in for the eyes. Some of them are cheeky, others sad, most are quite endearing and others just plain mad. Their naive and graphic glazes bear the influence of his background in graffiti. Their shapes, patterns and markings are all unique and seem to belong to the world of instinct.
His paintings on paper employ a variety of media and also incorporate elements of collage. Standing like portraits alongside the three-dimensional works, they too are full of humour. There is a refreshing energy about them, somewhat like the charm of drawings produced by children, who discard the rules to make up their own. Which in truth, is precisely how Huntley operates, building objects and images that should really fall over, but don't.
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SUBSCRIBE NOWThe sheer volume of work is telling of a continuously creative soul who also splits his time to front his band Eddy Current Suppression Ring. And for an artist whose parents are both potters and painters, it's no wonder the work stands up on its own.
Brendan Huntley’s Make Yourself at Home opens at Tolarno Galleries on Wednesday November 2 and runs until November 19.
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