‘Platonia’, a rare chance to view the latest works by controversial Oz artist, Sam Leach. Think of contemporary art and hip galleries and London and the Big Apple come to mind ..but what sort of a splash is modern Australian art making on the global canvas right now?
For a crash course in why Antipodean art is making waves in the brilliant and buoyant contemporary art world come and view ‘Platonia’ a thought-provoking exhibition by Oz artist Sam Leach, between 22nd September and 3rd October at Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street St. James´s, London SW1Y 6BN.
Winner of various prestigious Australian art awards, this year Leach became only the third artist, ever, to win Australia’s two most coveted art prizes – in the same year.He scooped both The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Archibald Prize for Portraiture and the Wynne Prize for Landscape earlier this year, the last person to ‘do the double’ was in 1978. (In short, imagine winning the Turner Prize and the John Moore’s Painting Prize in the same year, no mean feat!)
Those in the know know there’s more to the Aussie art scene than Aboriginal works (vibrant and beautiful though they are)... so for a glimpse of a different side of the contemporary Australian art world, come and view Sam Leach’s controversial, boundary-breaking paintings and find out why this artist’s work is selling faster than iced gelatos on a blistering summer’s day in Sydney.
Leach is creating a big splash in the art scene over the water – and this is a rare opportunity to catch him on UK shores. We think Sam Leach is a name you art lovers should remember as you’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future...
Sam Leach is an original in the purest sense of the word...inspired by traditional 17th Century Dutch paintings, he brings a unique twist to his subject matter, exploring the ambiguous and often uncomfortable relationship between technology and nature.
One theme that preoccupies Leach is our daily obsession with making money and our fear of dying, both of which he says shape our relationship with the natural world, and usually not in a good way.
‘Platonia’ is on at Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6BN
September 22nd to October 3rd 2010
Gallery Opening Times: 10 am – 6 pm
FK