James Lynch Always in our thoughts

Michael Lett

5 August - 5 September 2009

Preview Wednesday 5 August 2009 6-8pm

Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm

Saturday 11am-3pm

Michael Lett is pleased to present Always in our thoughts, an exhibition of new work by Melbourne-based artist James Lynch.

For Always in our thoughts Lynch has completed a series of paintings, each one depicting a significant occasion from his (recent) past that continues to hold resonance in his day-to-day thoughts. Using found imagery and photography Lynch faithfully recreates these memories in his studio as tableaux. Once photographed, the scenarios are painted with oil and spray enamel using an eclectic combination of styles and techniques. Seams, bled edges, silhouettes and reflections depict spaces that are filled with contrasting imagery, interactions and activities and are readily open to free association and various further retellings.

Recalling a diverse range of references, including amateur still lives, 19th century dioramas, miniatures, cell animation, history painting and grunge, this collection of paintings seem to have been unearthed from another era. Lynch describes these paintings as being as much dedications to the values of resilience, challenging authority, civil unrest and remembering as they are representations.

Accompanying these paintings are a collection of furniture-based sculptures: a wardrobe sourced from Trade Me painted in camouflage and a chair burnt almost beyond recognition. Powerfully symbolic, these objects link the paintings to the messy surrounds of domestic interiors, pulling them away from the formality of the gallery toward the expectations, struggles, rituals and chance encounters that make up everyday life. 

James Lynch was born in Melbourne in 1974. Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1996 he has founded both the groundbreaking group Damp in 1995 and Rubik, a fanzine style publishing and curatorial project running from 1998 to 2003 (Room 3, 2000 and The Physics Room, 2001). Lynch was also a founding member of TCB gallery and a contributing editor of Natural Selection magazine.

Lynch has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions both within Australia and abroad. Recent exhibitions include: I walk the line: New Australian drawing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2009); Lost and Found: an archaeology of the present, 2nd Tarrawarra Biennale, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria; Circle of friends, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth (2008); The drunken soldier and other melodies, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo (2007); Anne Landa Award for video and new media arts, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2006); A Short Ride in a Fast Machine, the 20-year anniversary exhibition of Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne; New05, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2005); Le Grande Café, Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris (2004). Always in our thoughts will be Lynch's first solo exhibition in New Zealand.

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