The technical masteries – of perspective, space and viewer position – now so characteristic in Garry Currin’s exceptional paintings are accompanied by a seemingly limited palette – which while tonal in intention and descriptive in role – becomes imbued with dramatic richness and densities. He uses drawing techniques of line and occlusion, applies the presence of intervention devices – circles, crosses, lineal shapes and so on – across the surface and inside the tale being told.
Currin creates narratives of journey, using the metaphor of the sea and the goal of landfall – land presence – to splice time together. In this way, the past becomes the present and now the door into a metaphysical past. He is painting myths that speak of human endeavour and spiritual concerns. He takes the viewer out to sea, deep into the natural world, establishing vertiginous sensations as well as dramatic, contradictory stories of powerlessness and insignificance, wisdom and truth.
This exhibition is proudly supported by Sofitel Queenstown