Sutton Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Show Business, an exhibition of new sculptural works by John Meade. The exhibition’s title forms an overarching theme, emphasising the works’ striking physicality and material presence, while also referring to the act of ‘showing’ artworks in the public sphere as an essential trigger for creating cultural dialogue.

Show Business is Meade’s first sculptural exhibition in Melbourne for four years, during which time the artist’s work has developed a significant refinement of form. The work in the exhibition achieves a compelling balance of sculptural form, material enterprise and synthesised cultural observation; which is at times complemented by traces of humour.

The exhibition comprises of two wall works, and two vertical floor works. The latter subtly allude to figurative forms – with Double Pin with Heide Plait referencing a female figure and Psychopomp suggesting a stool and orthodox Jewish Shtreimel hat. The utilisation of materials such as real fur and stockings, along with their evocative formal references creates a theatrical sense of showiness. Bad Infinity and Sabrina, the two wall pieces utilise a more organic, abstract
language, provoking a strong physical response from the viewer. Bad Infinity makes a nod to the sculptural works of Franz West through its use of open, biomorphic lines. These abstract forms create a playful formal tension with the more figurative floor works