From 11th Nov

Mal Leckie – The Humble Picture Exhibition

I’m dedicating this exhibition to my friend and fellow artist John Rigby (RIP) who lamented around a campfire in central Queensland one evening as we discussed the day’s painting – Mal, I’m afraid we are losing “THE HUMBLE PICTURE” The short version of what’s going on with this show is that it’s about simplicity, in both our lives and our aspirations. These small and simple works are done with all the acquired visual understanding I could muster distilled into the most basic and efficient marks I could make. I am interested in how much ‘feel of place‘ I can communicate using as little as possible. For those who like their art to be “addressing issues” I can only offer the following. I have been concerned for some time that contemporary art has swung too far towards the world of entertainment and away from the very personal endeavour, the relationship between an artist, their materials and their subject matter. The big and influential galleries are embracing the spectacular, the blockbuster, the gate-receipt generator…..to the detriment of the quiet and reflective moment of a human being embracing their personal spirituality and surroundings. It’s my belief that when we have learnt to spot and admire the little things in life, we can all be amazed and fulfilled each and every day. It’s about the difference between loud and soft, the explosion vs. the slow burning campfire, the handmade belt at the markets vs. the factory manufactured pop-out, the gentle acoustic guitar at a Dust temple evening vs. an overwhelming 50,000