DAVID BRADLEY’S SOLO EXHIBITION : TRANSMISSION

Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney presents an ambitious new solo exhibition by Australian artist by David Bradley of 21st century digital paintings on 15 February – 7 March 2020.

TRANSMISSION is the first solo presentation by the London-based artist at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney and is the culmination of 15 years of practice dedicated to finding ways to paint in a manner that is distinctly of the 21st century, where the boundaries between picture, video, and virtual reality are blurred.

The exhibition title, ‘Transmission’, implies the passing of one thing to the next. From artist, to viewer, to collector. From history to present. From Instagram to world. From image to object.

Bradley presents a series of digital paintings, woven as high-resolution tapestries that are both robust and beautiful – qualities not often associated with digital things. The work is installed in a pseudo warehouse, with readymade boxes that allude to Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box and the fact that the digital is always hidden in storage and on hard drives. When we bring it out on the wall, it can live among us more harmoniously.

The exhibition opens at the dawn of a new decade, during a watershed moment in the history of art among younger generations. Some are calling it post-digital, as digital labour gains physical form and beauty. Everything is inflected with digital technique and mastery, but we still yearn for the real, and the well-made. The next generation is seeking to merge the digital with the traditional.

The works presented are the most laborious Bradley has made yet, having developed a range of digital tools that allow him to paint inside photographic reality, while retaining the feel and hand of a painter.

The exhibition is a distinct leap forward in the process-based practice of the artist, who is at the forefront of exploring the impact of digital technologies on contemporary art. Bradley’s complex and pioneering practice is unencumbered by the constraints of genre, medium and tradition and completely redefines what a painting can be.

Bradley’s work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Lyon Housemuseum, the Aldala Collection, as well as significant private collections in America, Europe, Asia and Australia. His recent exhibitions include Search History at The Hole, New York (2019) and HEART with Jon Rafman at Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark (2019).

David Bradley’s TRANSMISSION is on view at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney from 15 February to 7 March 2020. Entry is free. For more information, please visit www.sullivanstrumpf.com