Donovan Christie - Nanda/Hobbs

The Australian ugliness is a trope that occasioally gets mentioned but not so much recently perhaps we've reconciled ourselves with our lack of concern with such things as decorative arts. I don't know. Donovan Christie nods to Howard Arkley in the show at Nanda/Hobbs I went to the other night.

The large canvases (approx 1.5m x 1m) are colourful. You see shopfronts like these all over the country. Well maybe that's true at least you do in Sydney. I guess Victorian is the label though they're often too plain, lacking the Italianate decoration of the period's most elaborate constructions.

Layered on top of the historical buildings' fabrics are advertising, shop names, bright colour. The indices of contemporary mercantilism. These are more luscious than the originals, you feel. These are sort of Day-Glo bright they have this New Journalism sort of fascination with the mundane, the ordinary. Hence my mention of Arkley.

I think these works are necessary. In 1788 Sydney was a bush settlement, maybe a few wooden structures. Wood proliferated but then with greater prosperity in the 19th C stone took over. Today there are few wooden buildings in Sydney. The stone ones (Victorian) are prized like family heirlooms are these days don't get knocked down. Countil rules prevent that from happening. It's possible that Donovan's paintings will be all that's left of this or that suburban shopping strip. The CBD stone buildings are safe at least.