Art

Rhys Lee Shares ‘10 Paintings and 100 Drawings’

‘I always want to show everything that I make… get it out there! Otherwise it just sits in a studio pile or gallery stockroom,’ tells artist Rhys Lee.

In his current, epic exhibition at Nicholas Thomson Gallery, he’s certainly been able to showcase a great deal of his most recent output – a rich and brilliantly perturbing exploration of the human condition.

Written
by
Elle Murrell

Rhys Lee at Nicholas Thompson Gallery, with works for his new show, 10 Paintings amd 100 Drawings’. Photo – Makiko Ryujin courtesy of Nicholas Thompson Gallery.

The exhibition is currently on at Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne, and runs until November 5th. Photo – Viki Petherbridge.

The vivid artworks explore mysterious, eerie scenarios and debauchery, staring Rhys’ vaguely grotesque figures, with hats and hands coincidently emerging as themes. Photography – courtesy of Nicholas Thompson Gallery.

Rhys paints from his studio in Birregurra, one-and-a-half hours drive south-west of Melbourne. Photography – courtesy of Nicholas Thompson Gallery.

The epic showcase of 110 artworks. Photo – Viki Petherbridge.

Writer
Elle Murrell
20th of October 2017

Rhys Lee likes to keep things to the point. His current exhibition, ‘10 Paintings and 100 Drawings’ at Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne, is just that: a series of oil-on-canvas artworks entitled ‘Painting 1-10’, and a neat 100 mixed-media-on-paper pieces entitled ‘Drawings 1-100’.

The internationally coveted artist has been working on these paintings at his home studio in the quiet Victorian country town of Birregurra over the past two years, while he began to produce the pastel and charcoal drawings from January this year, including when visiting New York and Germany. ‘It’s always interesting to work in a restricted or unfamiliar environment compared to the comfort of the studio,’ reflects the former Archibald Prize finalist.

The vivid artworks explore mysterious, eerie scenarios and debauchery, starring Rhys’ signature, vaguely grotesque figures –  a cast of cowboys, circus outcasts, humanlike animals and other skeletal subjects. For this epic showcase, the instinctive artist made his selections quite randomly. ‘The process could be different depending on the weather, or what you might be drinking at the time!’ he jokes, though highlighting that a theme of hands and hats coincidently emerged.

During the mid 90’s, the artist studied Graphic Design at Griffith University in Brisbane, though he was more committed to creating graffiti and developing his fine art practice. As Rhys tells the story, he moved to Melbourne in 1999 to immerse himself in the art and culture he felt he was missing out on, and today has over 30 solo exhibitions to his name. ‘I held painting and drawing in high regard, so a career in Graphic Design was never going to work out, too many compromises and hoops to jump through,’ says the forthright creative. ‘The only brief that I wanted to follow was my own.’

An industrious worker, Rhys dedicates a great deal of time to his practice, seeing every hour spent as a chance to evolve artistically and personally. ‘I work quickly, making a lot of work so the evolution gets a little sped up sometimes,’ he explains. ‘I want to keep going forward, and becoming better in all aspects.’

And so, true to form, Rhys is; he’s looking forward to building a new studio in the coming months, and we’re hoping ‘more space and a clean slate’ facilitates many more captivating artworks and exhibitions.

‘10 Paintings and 100 Drawings’ by Rhys Lee
October 14th to November 5th
Nicholas Thompson Gallery
155 Langridge St, Collingwood, Melbourne

 

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