Scott Redford is an established multidisciplinary artist currently based in Melbourne. With a highly regarded career, Redford has exhibited widely across Australia with work acquired into every major collection nationally. The broad appeal, conceptual astuteness and precise execution of Redford’s work has inspired a comprehensive collection of literature, including two major published monographs.
Underpinning Redford’s practice is a close examination of cultural identity within contemporary Australia, in particular the vibrant and glossy veneer that defines the Gold Coast, where he grew up. Some of the most identifiable works of Redford’s includes his surf paintings, utilising the same materials and processes used to make surfboards. With a vibrant and smooth aesthetic, Redford captures the essence of this iconic Queensland symbol, including all the aspirational ideals, fashion and social trends of pop culture.
‘What attracts me to Surfers Paradise is that no matter what is said about it, it will always be both less and more. It will always exceed and disappoint our expectations. It is a sort of rebus or mirror. It can be projected onto and reviled. It is both beautiful and a whore. Utopia and dystopia. You get the picture. I think it’s ART.’
Below this alluring surface we find a considered critique of post-modernism and a shrewd investigation into the appropriation and adaptation of ideas in defining our own identity. With a seamless combination of pop art and abstraction, Redford captures the complexity and contradictions that define contemporary Australian culture. As such, Redford’s work can be both serious and playful simultaneously, reclaiming popular creativity as a form of social activism to challenge political narratives and help bridge the social divide.
Exhibitions
