From Carrie Miller…
The title of Paul Williams exhibition at MOP, Untitled Fun, may be a description of the game viewers can play with the images he creates. In the strange and vivid world of Williams’ patterns, and with the blocking out of recognisable forms, the viewer’s eye shifts endlessly without a fixed focal point or figurative anchor. Looking at Williams’ paintings is curiously pleasurable – like the indescribable fun can you can get from looking up at the sky and clouds and trying to make sense of the random shapes.
Seeing patterns in things is an everyday experience for the artist. The patterning in Williams’ painting is based on a response to what he sees in suburbia, finding inspiration in everything from birdbaths, garden statuettes and Pebblecrete, to quirky birds. Combining this content with the highly formal aspect of the work – and an experimental technique that means images emerge almost by chance – all this goes together to create pictures that capture a moment when incongruent elements coalesce, like clouds, into something worth looking at.
Until September 9
MOP Gallery, Chippendale
Pic: Courtesy the artist.
The Art Life’s ‘Exhibitions’ section previews new and upcoming shows of note. Like to be included? Send info + pics to: the art life at hot mail dot com. Include “Exhibitions” in the subject line.
