23 July – 16 August 2025
Micheila Petersfield Blue Glasses, 2025
OPENING EVENT Friday 25 July 5:30 pm
Despard Gallery is pleased to host a special curated exhibition that considers the many definitions of portraiture in contemporary practice, including its evolving role in allowing artists to further explore and critique human experience. Personify: Representing The Figure brings together seven very different artists whose practices intersect through their representation of the figure. This includes a diverse range of styles and narratives, each proposing unique questions that spark curiosity around the human condition.
The exhibition includes new painting and sculptural works by established artist Graham Lang, a suite of vibrant diving-based paintings by Chris Bury, as well as uncanny narrative works by Liam Ross Baker. It also presents photographic pieces by Lisa Garland, Bliss Sandhu and Micheila Petersfield, who will also present new painted self-portraits. We are also excited to introduce the rich impasto paintings by emerging artist Hamish Wilson, who is currently based in Berlin.
Through a range of media, including photography, painting and sculpture, the exhibition examines key attributes of depicting the human form, from its formal representation through to a more complex examination of identity and the way we perceive and express ourselves. This includes all the ways contemporary visual interpretations of the body can challenge personal, social, and political understanding.
Click here to register interest for Personify: Representing The Figure.
