Apples, 2020
Acrylic on canvas, 55 x 77 cm

AUD $1800



AVAILABLE


ENQUIRE

Cezanne’s Gravity, 2020
Acrylic on canvas, 51 x 66 cm

AUD $1750



AVAILABLE


ENQUIRE

Colonial Head, 2018
Enamel on Aluminium
60 x 60 cm



SOLD



Maco and His Derogatory Breast-Plates, 2017
Enamel on Aluminium
90 x 90 cm



SOLD



Martin Claydon



Metro Gallery began showing Martin Claydon’s work earlier this year, featuring his paintings in several group shows. His work focuses on the artifice of historical narratives, a concept he investigates with predominantly British colonial subject matter. Claydon’s conceptual interests are made more intriguing by the fact that he himself has only recently moved from London to Melbourne. There is consequently an inescapable autobiographical undertone to each of Claydon’s paintings. Though he may not directly identify with his depiction of Captain James Cook, the portrait nevertheless hints at his own sentiments about the past actions of the British Empire. By the same token, the comical juxtaposition of Queen Elizabeth and the giant fish fingers she walks amongst, hints at a certain embarrassment Claydon may feel about his country’s monarch. That being said, Claydon, on the whole, manages to navigate what is one of the most divisive issues in Australia with incredible aesthetic finesse. The waggish nature of his paintings diffuses the vitriol with which this topic is usually addressed, allowing Claydon to maintain a degree of detachment from that specific issue. His principal target, more broadly speaking, are the perverters of historical fact, those who, in a time when one was able to, wrote a version of history which suited their interests. What can never be forgotten, then, is that nothing is what it seems in a Claydon painting.


What are most conspicuous in these images, at first glance, are the lurid green backgrounds that Claydon has used, references to the green screen of modern-day films. Every painting is thus imbued with an artificiality, as though the subjects are merely actors in a Hollywood production. Ironically, and I am sure this was not lost on the artist, this is not far from the truth. Most people’s understanding of Ancient Rome or the American Revolution has only come down to them through movies like Gladiator and The Patriot. From the outset, then, Claydon is asserting the duplicity of history as we know it. The green screen also has a broader aesthetic function. While the subjects depicted are, in other art historical paintings, flanked by opulent surroundings, they are here juxtaposed with an unnatural and unflattering green. This suffuses the paintings with an aesthetic dissonance.


In his painting, Colonial Figure with Screw Gun and Hoop Iron, Claydon depicts a high society English woman as a mannequin carrying a drill, whose headless body sheds no blood. Though morbid and disquieting, the scene is undeniably comical. It is as if we are viewing the production of Australian history in between takes. One almost expects to hear a director cry “Action!” The grace that would be bestowed upon this figure by any other artist is, in the hands of Claydon, made ridiculous and comical. The viewer is perhaps made to feel like the protagonist of the “Truman Show”, constantly fooled by the narrative construction around them. Reinforcing this sense of phoniness is Claydon’s application of paint. Rather than painting directly onto the surface, he has instead painted on top of tape, which he then applies to the aluminium board. Because of this the images appear as flat and as fake as a cardboard cut-out of a celebrity. It is this constant push and pull between deception and authenticity which makes Claydon’s paintings so intriguing.


Words by Julius Killerby



Education


20010/2014 National Art School BA Fine Art
2009 Middlesex University BA Fine Art
2008 TAFE Meadowbank Advanced Diploma Fine Art
2006 Higher School Certificate - Newington College


Selected Solo Exhibitions


2019 Bloodlines not Borderlines at Young International Art Fair (YIA) Paris,France

2019 The Curious Eye Never Runs Dry with Informality Gallery, Henley,United Kingdom

2018 Signs of Civilisation at Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney

2016 Displacement at Le Pave D’Orsay with Martin Brown,Paris

2016 Crossing the Rubicon at Nanda and Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney

2016 When the Sleeper Wakes at Metro Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015 Pentimento at Metro Gallery, Melbourne,Australia 2014 Anthony White-Survey Exhibition at Le Pave D’Orsay, Paris,France

2013 Informal Relations-The Cat St Gallery, Hong Kong

2011 Scratching the Surface- Iain Dawson Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2010 Paris Paintings -Iain Dawson Gallery, Sydney,Australia 2008 Figure and Ground-Rushcutters Bay Gallery, Sydney Australia

2007 Diverse Places- Marlene Antico Arts, Sydney, Australia


Group Shows

2020 Connexions Silencieuses with NG Art Creative Residency, Eygalieres, France

2019 Discrepant Abstraction at le Pave D’Orsay Paris with Miles Hall and Mostyn Bramley Moore

2018 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair with Nanda Hobbs Sydney Australia

2018 The Glover Prize for Landscape Painting, Tasmania Australia

2017 The Paddington Art Prize for Landscape Painting Finalists, Sydney, Australia

2016 The Paddington Art Prize for Landscape Painting Finalists,Sydney, Australia

2016 Art Central Art Fair, Hong Kong with Metro Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

2015 69th Salon Réalities Nouvelles, Parc Floral Paris, France

2015 The Annual Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts Burlington House, London,United Kingdom (Final Round Finalist)

2015 The Kedumba Invitational Drawing Prize at The Orange Regional Gallery NSW, Australia

2014 The Kedumba Invitational Drawing Prize, Wentworth Falls, Australia

2013 Works on Paper Group Exhibition at The Cat Street Gallery Hong Kong, China




Awards Commissions & Residencies


2020 Creative Fellowship at The National Library of Australia (The Stockade Project)

2019 Artist in Residence at NG Art Residency Eygalieres, Provence, France

2018 Artist in Residence at the Nancy Fairfax Studio at The Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre, Tweed Heads, NSW Australia

2018 Redland Art Awards Third Prize

2018 The Glover Prize for Landscape Painting, Tasmania Australia (Highly Commended)

2017 International Painting Symposium at The Mark Rothko Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia

2015 Creative Individuals Career Fund from Copyright Agency Australia with Atelier Michael Woolworth, Paris

2015 First Prize Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award

2015 Honourable Mention M16 Drawing Prize

2015 Commended Award Hawkesbury Art Prize

2010 The Leipzig International Art Program Scholarship Leipzig, Germany

2010 Artist in Residence at La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris

2009 Artist in Residence at The Storrier Onslow National Art School Studio Residency Award at La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris,France (Awarded by William Wright AM)

2008 Artist in Residence at The Vermont Studio Centre, Vermont, USA

2007 The Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, USA (Two years 2007-2008)

2007 Australia Council Skills and Arts Development: Artist in Residence,Paris Moya Dyring Studio at La Cite Internationale Des Arts,Paris-On reserve

2007 The Churchie Emerging Artist Exhibition Finalists Exhibition, Brisbane

2006 The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship Finalists Exhibition, The Art Gallery of NSW Sydney, Australia

2005 The Gruner Prize for Landscape Painting, The Art Gallery of NSW Sydney, Australia

2005 The Churchie Emerging Artist Exhibition, Finalist Exhibition, Brisbane (Commended) Australia

2003 The Great Southland Landscape Exhibition Sydney, Australia

2002 The Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award (Highly Commended) Sydney, Australia


Collections


The Australian Portrait Collection at The Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre, Tweed Heads NSW, Australia


Soho House Permanent Collection, London, United Kingdom


The Mark Rothko Centre Permanent Collection, Daugavpils, Latvia





TUE - FRI: 10 - 5
SAT: 11 - 5

or by appointment





1214 High Street,
Armadale, Victoria 3143



+61 3 9500 8511


info@metrogallery.com.au