Jackson Slattery Bridges

29 July –
26 August 2023

In Bridges, Jackson Slattery presents two threads of his practice, large paintings of letters and smaller paintings of objects, which are connected by their titles.

Of the two series, one features paintings of light filtering through textured antique glass in frames. A subtle shift occurs when Slattery changes perspective and paints aerial views of objects such as fish and figs on the face of the mottled windows. For the artist, these additional items operate as personal motifs or proxies for specific people, places, and events from his life.

In the text-based works, Slattery continues his exploration into the aesthetics of letterforms utilised by various de-materialised art movements from the 1960s and 1970s. To make the series, he sourced typefaces and lettering from flyers and posters of performances and happenings produced during that period. He then re-ordered the letters to create short poems which are coded biographical references—similar to the figs and fish—known only to the artist.

A referential loop between subject and title, links one series to the other. For example, the window painting titled ‘Blue Lexus’, features trouts and figs, and the canvas featuring the words Blue Lexus is titled ‘Trout and Figs’. While Slattery’s individual series’ straddle a balance between indifference and sincerity, when viewed collectively in Bridges, new readings and meanings are made possible.  

Selected solo exhibitions

Bridges, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2023; Best Forgotten, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2021; Nicolas, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2019; Grey Speckled Question Marks, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2017; Points d’Interrogations Blancs, Soon Gallery, Montreal, 2016; Burning Your Furniture to have the Warmest House in the Street, with Kieren Seymour, Alaska Projects, Sydney, 2015; Works on paper, Sutton Projects, Melbourne, 2015; Every Picture, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2015; Tunisian Parquetry, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2014; Halfway to a Dead Heat, Siamese Dream, Montreal, 2014; Wrong Formalism, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2012; Props, Sutton Gallery, 2011; Man Made Paradise, TCB, Melbourne, 2010.

Selected group exhibitions

Zombie Eaters, Murray Art Museum Albury, Albury, 2022; Des horizons d’attente, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, 2021; En bonne campagnie, Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal, 2020; La Dronne, Gertrude Glasshouse, Melbourne, 2019; Bodies Go Wrong, Orgy Park, Brooklyn, 2017; Media Hype, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne, 2017; Mile X/Sorrento, TCB, Melbourne, 2016; Head, Incidents Above a Bar, The Alderman, Melbourne, 2015; Drunk vs Stones III, Neon Parc, Melbourne, 2013; Down to the Line, Bett Gallery, Hobart, 2013; Fall Open Studios, ISCP, New York, 2013; Temperament Spectrum: The first twenty-one years 1992 – 2012, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2012; Resident Artist Exhibition, Sammlung Lennikus, Vienna, 2012; Trust Me, with Tony Garifalakis, Galerie Desaga, Cologne, 2011; Cornucopia – recent acquisitions, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, 2010; Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; and touring to QUT Art Museum, Fremantle Arts Centre and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 2010.

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