Human/Nature at Noosa Regional Gallery
Michael Brennan explores the decades of work by Juan Ford and what it might all mean.
The ‘human condition’ – this is a bit of a tired old cliché that finds its way into art writing and artist’s statements way too often – typically with little interrogation of what the phrase means or how it applies to a given artist’s work.
Are you still with me? (I’d understand if you’ve zoned out already. But give me a chance)… as I was saying, the human condition is probably something we’ve all grappled with at some time.
What does it mean to be human?
Is there a purpose to all this?
How do we relate to others and the rest of the stuff that we perceive as being outside of us?
Perhaps for most, these kinds of questions are usually encountered after a few too many late-night whiskeys.
But then there are others among us who spend huge amounts of their time consumed by these thoughts.
They’re usually creative people; Juan Ford is one of them.
Juan’s exhibition at Noosa Regional Gallery surveys some twenty years of his painting practice, engaging with the history of Australian landscape painting and questioning the relationship between humans and what we commonly think of as the natural world.
Spoiler Alert… for Juan, there is no separation.
His paintings have continued to pick apart the often-assumed false distinction between people and nature – harking back to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment in the Western World (and the beginning of everything that’s currently bringing us undone, you might say) – a project he’s been preoccupied with for several decades.
His work masterfully takes command of the chosen medium to produce mesmerising images that are equal parts technical brilliance and intellectual curiosity.
We’re seduced by a lush realism that’s somehow more compelling than a photograph in its duplicity – where human subject and natural form are dissolved, intertwined and smashed together, making us question why we make the delineation in the first instance.
You might be familiar with Juan’s work in Noosa from his installations as part of Floating Land in both 2019 and 2023.
His leaf-covered figures at Little Cove in the latter of these was endlessly photographed and shared by visitors and locals alike. What many of these art-enthusiasts might not have realised, however, is that sculptural works like these are almost always created as a first step in the process of making his paintings. They are the source material from which his acclaimed painted compositions are derived.
Juan Ford: A Survey, draws together a couple of dozen of these exquisite works from public and private collections across the country and puts them all together in a single space in a way they’ve rarely been seen.
It’s such a privilege for Noosa to be offered the opportunity to share this collection of works by one of Australia’s leading contemporary painters. Don’t miss it.
Upcoming Exhibitions
JUAN FORD: A SURVEY, until 12 October
Presenting 20 years of Juan’s practice and revealing the key conceptual questions with which he has engaged and which over time have manifested in more complex, refined and mature ways.
LOST IN PALM SPRINGS, 18 October-7 December
Place and home, desert atmosphere, landscapes (real and imagined), and Bauhaus sensibilities inform the works in this group exhibition by Australian and American artists as they explore the resurgence of mid-century modern architecture and design.
Visit the gallery to find out more including workshops, artist talks and other events.
www.noosaregionalgallery.com.au
