Preview of joint exhibition Young Bloods, by emerging Tasmanian artists Joshua Andree & Liam Ross Baker.
31 May – 24 June 2023
Despard Gallery is thrilled to host the third iteration of our Young Bloods exhibition series, featuring emerging Tasmanian artists, Josh Andree and Liam Ross Baker. This exhibition acts as the next big step in supporting our newest emerging artists who have shown an exceptionally high standard of creativity, application and artistic passion, providing a platform to help drive their careers on the commercial stage by introducing their work to new audiences.
As young and politically engaged creatives, Andree and Baker both provide original contributions to the discourse of contemporary Tasmanian painting, offering original perspectives and unique aesthetic interpretations. Underlying the artistic approaches of both Andree and Baker is the use of creative practice to question our sense of place, examining the psychology of the Tasmanian landscape and broader cultural anxieties, whist paying heed to the complex historical legacy of colonisation. As such, both artists remind us of the dualities that persist across contemporary Australia, their work capturing the uncanny nature of the familiar and a sense of unease from being stretched between both comfort and fear. Overall, Andree and Baker use paint to challenge how we view and make sense of the world, helping to establish a more educated notion of place whilst informing a sense of self.