NICK MORRIS & DAVE BOWERS
Present
DOUG BARTLETT

 

JOIN DOUGS EMAIL LIST AND GO INTO THE DRAW

TO WIN A $4000 DOUG BARTLETT PAINTING

THIS INCLUDES EMAILS FROM COLLABORATIVE ARTISTS NICK MORRIS AND DAVID BOWERS,

DRAWN 31 MAY 2010. THE PAINTING WILL BE CHOSEN BY THE ARTISTS AND NO CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO.

 

DOUG BARTLETT OFFICIALLY SELLS OUT EUROPEAN SHOW

Doug Bartletts works have officially sold out at our European show through Spacejunk Galleries in France www.spacejunk.tv which is a significant indication of things to come with future exhibitions already planned. There are no more pieces available in Europe and art buyers will have to wait for the next show in Spring 2010 to purchase upcoming works.

 

DOUG BARTLETT SELLS OUT IN HONG KONG

A series of works sent to Gaffer Gallery in Hong Kong have also sold out. The world market is just opening up for Doug Bartlett, Nick Morris and David Bowers as the demand is expected to increase with the artists already flat out trying to supply the Australian market.

 Doug Bartlett doing what he loves best.

Doug Bartlett is the name given to the energy created when Nick Morris and Dave Bowers work together on the same canvas.

“We open up the roller door to the garage in Torquay and let rip. With a few beers, and the music turned up, we throw ourselves into the canvases. Slabs of colour are slapped down haphazardly and images are layered on at random. A lot of this initial work won’t survive the painting process because we have a rule that says: ‘you can paint over anything, and the other one can’t protest’. Whole vistas appear and disappear. Hours of work can be swept away with one brutal sweep of a brush. ‘Doug has entered the building’ is the only explanation required.
This process, which is confronting as well as cleansing, continues until we both agree the painting is finished. Working this way creates a feverish momentum, and we can be working on up to forty paintings at a time.
The canvases are a free-flowing exchange of random images and themes, and are applied using stencils, spray paint, silkscreen and freehand, using acrylic paint and oil stick. We glean material from mass popular culture, including quotes from celebrities and words lifted directly from spam text.”

Morris “I am inspired by the iconic images of my childhood in Ballarat. Australian symbols like ‘Hoges’, GT Falcons and Monaros permeated every fibre of my being. I still remember staring in awe at my father’s friend’s sparkly green speedboat named ‘anyhow…..’.
These images, along with cartoons, pop stars and religious icons, were my childhood landscape. I also loved the random patterns and textures of all the stickers on the wardrobe in my room. Some half ripped off and others half-stuck over another. These symbols and aesthetics form the basis of my art.
Our rule of painting over anything you want creates art with no boundaries, free from clinging and being too precious, and the creative process is accelerated as we bounce off each other.”

Bowers “Aesthetically I find inspiration comes from anywhere any time. I find myself mesmerized by what I call incidental urban micro landscapes, like the patterns of road repairs, or chewing gum on the footpath; symbols, numbers and letters on power poles; the accidental tracks and patterns we leave as a species. I find the process of decay quite beautiful—rust, peeling paint etc. The fine line between beauty and ugliness.
I create cartoon characters that would fail a Disney audition. They look too sad, too eager to please, too dumb, too angry or they haven’t aged well. For me these characters represent the imperfect masses.
I get a huge kick out of sharing canvases because of the chaotic momentum. Working alone you can sometimes labour over a detail for hours, but with a shared canvas, someone else (Doug) will just boldly paint right over it and I'll think what a bloody relief.”
See www.nickmorris.com.au for more images and online sales.