The work of Australia’s “father of psychedelic art”, Vernon Treweeke, and pioneering conceptual artist Ian Milliss will feature alongside each other at the new “Then and Now” exhibition at Macquarie University’s Art Gallery.
Guests will experience Treweeke and Milliss’ work in diverse and curious ways; for example the former under ultraviolet light and with 3D glasses.
Launched on Friday 7 November, the exhibition looks not only at the work they produced throughout the 1960s but explores it in relation to their current practices working as contemporary artists. Then and Now is less about artefacts and more about Milliss and Treweeke actively producing outside of the ‘conventional’ art world.
In many respects, Treweeke and Milliss have resisted the thrusts and gains of commercialisation with practices spanning over 50 years of work. Having met in the late 1960s, the two have remained friends despite the different directions they took in their artmaking.
Then and Now examines the formulation of two divergent practices, which effectively resulted in what is now commonly accepted as “community building”. For artists with such diverse outputs, the similarities in their work are worth exploring.
Treweeke’s work attracted recognition for its abstraction, which often took the form of mural painting, and later his work developing into a prototype for what has become known as installation, multi-media and electronic art. His works in this particular exhibition require ultraviolet lights for viewing, which reflected how ultraviolet paintings using fluorescent paint have become his most famous medium.
In recent years, Treweeke has found endless artistic inspiration in producing digital images. By reworking old images and paints through Photoshop, he layers 40 to 50 images to create the depth needed by layering for his 3D projections. Using the required glasses, audiences must manoeuvre themselves to visually experience the works.
Milliss has likewise operated outside of the conventional art practices, and gained notoriety early on for his artistic involvement in social activism. From the age of sixteen he brought a new level of conceptual leanings into this highly charged environment, taking part in the green bans movement and unionism. Milliss had no traditional art world exhibitions between 1971 and 1989. Instead, his work dispensed with object-based art as he communicated through throw-away documents. Rather than the finished works, it was the transference of ideas that were at the centre of the artist’s creative output.
Exhibition details
Then and Now
Open Friday 7 November – Friday 21 November, Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm
Macquarie University Art Gallery, E11A Building Eastern Road, Macquarie University, North Ryde
Guests will experience Treweeke and Milliss’ work in diverse and curious ways; for example the former under ultraviolet light and with 3D glasses.
Launched on Friday 7 November, the exhibition looks not only at the work they produced throughout the 1960s but explores it in relation to their current practices working as contemporary artists. Then and Now is less about artefacts and more about Milliss and Treweeke actively producing outside of the ‘conventional’ art world.
In many respects, Treweeke and Milliss have resisted the thrusts and gains of commercialisation with practices spanning over 50 years of work. Having met in the late 1960s, the two have remained friends despite the different directions they took in their artmaking.
Then and Now examines the formulation of two divergent practices, which effectively resulted in what is now commonly accepted as “community building”. For artists with such diverse outputs, the similarities in their work are worth exploring.
Treweeke’s work attracted recognition for its abstraction, which often took the form of mural painting, and later his work developing into a prototype for what has become known as installation, multi-media and electronic art. His works in this particular exhibition require ultraviolet lights for viewing, which reflected how ultraviolet paintings using fluorescent paint have become his most famous medium.
In recent years, Treweeke has found endless artistic inspiration in producing digital images. By reworking old images and paints through Photoshop, he layers 40 to 50 images to create the depth needed by layering for his 3D projections. Using the required glasses, audiences must manoeuvre themselves to visually experience the works.
Milliss has likewise operated outside of the conventional art practices, and gained notoriety early on for his artistic involvement in social activism. From the age of sixteen he brought a new level of conceptual leanings into this highly charged environment, taking part in the green bans movement and unionism. Milliss had no traditional art world exhibitions between 1971 and 1989. Instead, his work dispensed with object-based art as he communicated through throw-away documents. Rather than the finished works, it was the transference of ideas that were at the centre of the artist’s creative output.
Exhibition details
Then and Now
Open Friday 7 November – Friday 21 November, Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm
Macquarie University Art Gallery, E11A Building Eastern Road, Macquarie University, North Ryde
