Defiance Gallery presents an exhibition of works by Tony Slater
The Sun, The Built and The Grown consists of a series of domestic landscapes painted by Tony Slater between 2012—2016. Travelling throughout regional New South Wales, Slater has painted images of quiet suburban streets. These landscapes are unpopulated, but the presence of people is strongly felt through the closely cropped images of dwellings, power poles, fences and even washing hanging on a line. These are tamed landscapes, with roads and paths bisecting closely cropped lawns and carefully placed trees. The resulting works feel intimate, but their emptiness creates an underlying eeriness.
These works showcase Slater’s amazing mastery of light and tone. Since his arrival from the UK in the late 1960s, Slater has been captivated by the Australian light, and this plays an important role in these works. Painted at different times of the day, the harsh light of noon softens into warm tones and deep shadows of sunrise and dusk across the works.
Tony Slater studied at the Royal College of Art, London, in the early sixties and exhibited in solo and group shows in London and Europe. His work is in private collections in Europe, America, Australia and Hong Kong. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia including the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sulman Prize on three occasions.