Dan Withey
Dan Withey returns with his third solo exhibition, presenting a new suite of colourful and animated paintings that express the forces of life.
His third solo exhibition at Hillsmith Gallery, the exhibition times in with the current state wide festival in South Australia. Established in 1998, The South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival is an annual celebration of South Australian living visual artists.
In this major expose and month for South Australia, Withey’s works are well suited to pack a punch and stand out. The new body of work examines the impact of the environment on our lives and the way our lives impact the environment.
“The concept for ‘External Drivers’ is about the things that drive us in life – the struggles of being alive and how we respond to situations and environments that we find ourselves in – whether natural or unnatural and the conflicting nature of the two”, states Withey.
With a strong grasp of subject, Withey challenges the viewer with this intricate and bold semi-abstract compositions.
The exhibition will feature new paintings, including two large-scale canvases that evoke through Withey’s characteristic way, the chaos and humor in contemporary society. Withey’s ability to observe the unusual within the mundane is a hallmark of his practice.
Finely rendered, colourful compositions, vibrant characters and symbols, all converge in this exhibition. His semi-autobiographic approach is one that is relatable; evocative of the collective dilemmas of living in a society of instant news feeds and the pressures of survival.
EXHIBITION
External Drivers | Dan Withey
Until 26 August 2017
Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
Courtesy the artist and Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide.
Genuine reflection, the quiet, unresolved, sometimes uncomfortable kind, feels increasingly rare. We are seldom invited to sit with what we do not yet understand. This...
As the title Westwood | Kawakubo suggests, the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) latest fashion exhibition plays to the idea that these two titans of...
Operating within a commercial framework yet not representing artists, Project8 allows for a greater sense of curatorial freedom, privileging thematic and carefully considered exhibitions over...
Ron Mueck’s shockingly alive sculptures hit us at many points along the pathway from birth to death. But it’s more than just mortal decay that...
Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light draws on more than 300 photographs and photomedia from the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) collection and the...
Motet Fail, 2026, reshapes Artist Run Initiative, West Space into an immersive backgammon board that operates as a site of reflection, encounter, and quiet concert....
Carvings have been made for all time by Aurukun men. However, the more recent innovation to emerge from Aurukun are paintings. Vested in Country and...
A stone’s throw from the Illawarra escarpment at Campbelltown Arts Centre, the introduction to Draper’s ecosphere is a gathering of rainbow forms which, as an...
In 1991, Maurice and Katia Krafft died during the Mount Unzen eruption on Japan’s island of Kyushu. Herzog’s documentary does meditate on their deaths and...