Title

Julian Laffan: The familiar road.

Venues

Beaver Galleries [2] (1 September 2022 – 17 September 2022)

Date

(2022)

Summary

Single-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (ACT). Prints.

Web address

https://www.beavergalleries.com.au/exhibitions/th…

Country of context

Australia

Abstract

Julian Laffan’s exhibition captures moments in time on road journeys between Canberra, Braidwood and Narooma – a stretch of highway that has been imprinted on his memory. As Julian says, “…this exhibition acknowledges the familiar sites and changing light of the traveller heading home. Focusing on mountains, rivers and the highway itself I am connecting the personal experience with that of the formation of rituals and the recognisable places along the way.” Julian hand carves his woodcuts and chooses not to print his blocks, instead creating unique works by directly colouring the woodblock with gouache, oil and pencil. This is a conscious decision to reference the historical use of the woodcut for the dissemination of information and images. In his hand carved and painted timber panels, Julian also makes reference to the series of woodcuts depicting stations along the historic Tōkaidō Road in Japan by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). His pieces are a “reflection of place and time in a single captured moment carved and suspended as an image in timber”. Julian seeks to replace the instantaneous circulation of information and imagery, so common today, with prolonged meditation; a single tableau documented through deliberate labour.

[Beaver Galleries media, 2022].

Last Updated

04 Aug 2024