Sydney based painter Mitch Cairns presents three large paintings and a series of text works as part of The National 2021: New Australian Art. One painting, Self-Portrait as an Autumnal Low, which depicts two autumn trees, hangs on a brick wall measuring the same height as the artist’s studio which Cairns built with his father over two days. Cairns worked as a labourer for his brick-laying father whilst he was at the National Art School and the wall is a reference to the relationship between art and life that has followed his career.
Created from February 2020 until March 2021, Cairns’ installation reflects uncertainty and anxiety in the face of a changing world. Domestic in setting and psychological and intuitive in context, the paintings utilise his now familiar layered and refracted style.
Read full Daniel Mudie Cunningham artist text.
The National 2021: New Australian Art
26 Mar – 20 Jun
Open every Wed – Sun, from 10am – 5pm.
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