Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney presents Ry David Bradley’s new solo exhibition of 21st century digital paintings: Transmission
Announcement posted by The Fold PR 23 Jan 2020
[Thursday, 23 January 2020] Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney is proud to present Transmission – an ambitious new solo exhibition by Australian artist Ry David Bradley of 21st century digital paintings on 15 February – 7 March 2020.
Transmission is the first solo presentation by the London-based artist at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney and is the culmination of 15 years of practice dedicated to finding ways to paint in a manner that is distinctly of the 21st century, where the boundaries between picture, video, and virtual reality are blurred.
The exhibition title, ‘Transmission’, implies the passing of one thing to the next. From artist, to viewer, to collector. From history to present. From Instagram to world. From image to object.
Bradley presents a series of digital paintings, woven as high-resolution tapestries that are both robust and beautiful – qualities not often associated with digital things. The work is installed in a pseudo warehouse, with readymade boxes that allude to Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box and the fact that the digital is always hidden in storage and on hard drives. When we bring it out on the wall, it can live among us more harmoniously.
“This is the most important show I’ve presented in Australia and it opens at the dawn of a new decade, during a watershed moment in the history of art among younger generations. Some are calling it post-digital, as digital labour gains physical form and beauty. Everything is inflected with digital technique and mastery, but we still yearn for the real, and the well-made. The younger generation coming up is seeking to merge the digital with the traditional,” said Bradley.
“These are the most laborious works I’ve ever made, having developed a range of digital tools that allow me to paint inside photographic reality, while retaining the feel and hand of a painter,” he said.
The exhibition is a distinct leap forward in the process-based practice of the artist, who is at the forefront of exploring the impact of digital technologies on contemporary art.
Sullivan+Strumpf, co-founder and director, Ursula Sullivan says the exhibition heralds a new era of painting.
“We are extremely excited to present Ry’s extraordinary new body of work. Transmission is a major presentation of a new direction for painting and a sophisticated advancement of the genre. Ry’s complex and pioneering practice is unencumbered by the constraints of genre, medium and tradition and completely redefines what a painting can be.”
Ry David Bradley’s Transmission is on view at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney from 15 February to 7 March 2020. Entry is free. For more information, please visit www.sullivanstrumpf.com
Exhibition Details
Ry David Bradley
Transmission
Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney, 799 Elizabeth St, Zetland NSW
15 February – 7 March 2020
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About Sullivan+Strumpf
Sullivan+Strumpf is one of Asia-Pacific’s leading contemporary art galleries, representing the most engaging Australian and international artists of our time. Founded in 2005 by co-directors Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf, Sullivan+Strumpf has spaces in Sydney and Singapore and represents 39 established and emerging artists and artist estates from across the Asia-Pacific and East Asia. The gallery presents an ambitious program of diverse exhibitions, publications and talks, and an international art fair schedule spanning Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Sullivan+Strumpf has proudly helped to foster the careers of some of the most significant contemporary artists in the region and remains dedicated to supporting artists to realise their visions and forge long-term artistic careers. www.sullivanstrumpf.com
Ry David Bradley Bio
Ry David Bradley (b. 1979, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian artist, based in London, who is known as one of the artists at the forefront of new artistic theories and practices exploring the impact of digital technologies on contemporary art and society. His process-based practice investigates the nature of painting in an era where the boundaries between picture, video, and virtual reality are increasingly blurred. Painting becomes a product of technology as much as a conscious act from the artist.
Bradley graduated with an Masters of Fine Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne in 2013. Since then he has exhibited widely at galleries and museum in his native Australia, as well as in exhibitions and fairs in New York, London, Milan, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and Palm Beach. In 2009, he founded the popular international website PAINTED, ETC (paintedetc.com), which explores how digital technologies and imagery are contributing to reshaping the role and nature of art in contemporary societies.
Recent solo and group exhibitions include Search History at The Hole, New York (2019); HEART with Jon Rafman at Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2019); Art Brussels, The Hole, Brussels, Belgium (2019); Enter, Lyon Housemuseum, Melbourne (2019), Zona Maco, The Hole, Mexico City, Mexico (2019); and ALAC, The Hole, Los Angeles, US. Bradley’s work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Lyon Housemuseum, the Aldala Collection, as well as significant private collections in America, Europe, Asia and Australia.