Preview of inaugural solo exhibition Passing Through, by emerging Tasmanian artist Harrison Bowe.
5 – 29 April 2023
Despard Gallery is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated inaugural solo exhibition by emerging Tasmanian artist Harrison Bowe. ‘Passing Through’ presents a new suite of paintings that captures the unique alpine terrain of the loinnekumme / Arthur Ranges, a remote mountainous area located in south-west lutruwita /Tasmania. Navigating the terrain and experiencing it firsthand, Bowe response to the landscape becomes instinctual, creating large-scale paintings that revere the magnitude of these spaces and the ethereal experiences that they can elicit.
The surface of each painting is built up through thick layers of enamel, oil paint and beeswax, carved out with various sized palette knifes. This physical, yet sensitive use of mediums, results in a surface that is both tactile and complex, contrasting rich texture against subtle gradients. Through his paintings, Bowe demonstrates the power of the landscapes to evoke real feelings, reflecting a strong relationship that is personal, yet universally shared. But also, how paint can be a means to express these connections in a way that cannot be termed in words; to be in awe of its presence, humbled by its power and lost to its intimacy.