Metro Gallery, Melbourne, presents the second solo show of Paris based artist Anthony White. This new body of work draws upon the intersection of technology and the world of science fiction literature.
The title of the exhibition is derived from a variation of the title of the dystopian science fiction novel by H.G Wells 'The Sleeper Awakes', written in 1910.
Drawing parallels with themes of revolt and social unrest from the Wellsian novel and by juxtaposing these with today’s sense of interconnectedness and social mobility. The artist creates inspiration for the new exhibition, drawing upon themes in relation to the role of technology in current political events especially during the Arab Spring uprising of 2010.
Apart from the ongoing interest with literature the new body of work also makes reference to the gestural mark in the graffiti movement as an original form of dissent and an early form of collective violence. Through preliminary paper collages created from salvaged Paris subway advertisements.
These 13 new paintings show a preoccupation with the intersection of the gestural mark, bodily performance and corporeality drawing from the avant garde Japanese painting movement, Gutai of the 1950s. These new paintings further explore ideas of spontaneity, performance and the overlap between performative actions and gestural painting in order to gain transformative power or transcendence.

Anthony White -