Past events are archived for future reference.
Jon Campbell is known for his irreverent humour and his explorations with text and design. His subject matter is eclectic, borrowing from Aussie slang, colloquialisms and well-worn phrases.
Campbell often abstracts these words and phrases to reflect a range of influences lifted from popular culture and advertising signage, 1960s counterculture and suburbia. By drawing on everyday culture and the world around us, Campbell creates a visual language that speaks to our times.
Campbell’s works frequently take the form of painting, flags, neons and banners. He employs stylised lettering to explore the formal qualities of typography and the relationships between forms in space. For Drawing Wall #29, the artwork’s readings can be found the abstracted text which is left for the viewer to decipher.
Solo exhibitions include Just Sing What You Feel, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2012); Stacks on 2010, Melbourne Art Foundation Artist Commission (2010); yeah yeah yeah, The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand (2007); Greatest Hits Vol.1, CSA Gallery, Australian National University School of Art, Canberra (2002). Group exhibitions include The End of Time. The Beginning of Time, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne (2017); I heart rock (rock is the total work of art), Arts Project Australia, Melbourne (2016); Painting. More Painting, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2016); it’s gonna take a lotta love, Franklin Street Works, Stamford, US (2015); Art Tram, Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne; Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2013); Basil Sellers Art Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (2012). Campbell’s work is held in a number of Australian collections including Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Exhibition runs Saturday 28 October to Wednesday 31 January.
IMAGE: Jon Campbell, Yeah Flag, 2004. Exhibited as part of the exhibition, Ahoy, Hamilton NZ, 2004. Image courtesy of the artist and Darren Knight, Sydney.
