The Island

Pictured above: I listened as the world became silent 2024
oil paint, oil stick, synthetic polymer paint, mika flakes and gold leaf on wood panel
60.0 x 50.0 cm

The Island 🏝️
27/8/2024 - 14/9/2024

Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, QLD
Ph +61 7 3254 1855

Fred Fowler’s paintings build up a symbolic order through a type of painterly wordplay. His paintings find delight in disguise: doors, vessels, creatures, and nature recur throughout these works, evoking a sense of place, concealment, and transformation. These tropes suggest unseen truths, carried into being by illusory landscapes – but the symbols are all we see. Some of these details, in particular the buried treasures, create an experience of uncanny time travel for the viewer. Are we witnessing a scene from another time, or a simulacrum? 

Fowler’s new work builds up imagery in layered constructions that repeatedly reorient the picture plane, resulting in seemingly floating compositions. Painted onto hard boards, on which the artist builds and conceals layers of colour and symbols, the works become finished tableaus, revealing new layers of meaning behind every surface.

The notion of the myth is integral to Fowler’s play of symbols. The exhibition takes its title from the way locals refer to Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) as simply ’the island’. But in this case the artist is also using the mythology of ‘the island’ in a broader sense as well. Entombed foreign vessels, buried treasure, strange creatures, secret descendants of early voyagers and unique ecosystems are examples of the jumping off points for the symbols in these paintings.

Fowler’s works are painted paradoxes, deceptively spirited compositions that blend embellishments toward a contemplation of meaning. Setting up the tension between the figurative and abstraction, Fowler reframes decoration as a site of philosophical inquiry. His symbols are, on the one hand, sites of false flags and diversion; and on the other, they are sites of creation, truth and depictions of a human story. Like an island, Fowler’s work makes visual the rhythmic dissonance of life’s primal forces.

To request a copy of the catalogue please contact the gallery here.

Pictured above: An arc of seabirds 2024
oil paint, oil stick, synthetic polymer paint, coarse alumina and gold leaf on wood panel
60.0 x 50.0 cm

Recent future distant past

Recent future distant past
8/11/2023 - 25/11/2023

Sophie Gannon Gallery
2 Albert Street Richmond VIC 3121 Australia
T +61 3 9421 0857

The works in Distant Future / Recent Past stem from Fowler’s recent research subjects: astral travel, treasure hordes, ancient map symbology, extinction events, hobo graffiti, archaeological finds and iconoclasm. His paintings possess a quality of simultaneous familiarity and mystery. He explains ”with every painting there are several choices to be made between the recognisable and the unknown”. In order to differentiate the journey from the destination, Fowler states that “no painting is done until it earns the right to not be destroyed”. Then it has arrived, is accepted as a painting, an authentic artefact.

Employing both an additive and reductive process and a luminous palette, Fowler approached these paintings like an archaeologist searching for fragments, sifting and then describing his finds through form, colour and texture. Some findings are brought to the surface and some are buried again, creating alluring arrangements which float between abstraction and figuration. For example, in the painting ‘A radically condensed history of preindustrial life’, Fowler sets up a space which is not at once understandable. Bodies of water, bronze sculptures, a viking shield and an arrowhead share the stage with more recognisable symbols and abstract elements. The ambiguity disrupts the viewers comprehension, which compels a longer and deeper look. This kind of visually magnetic interaction, not uncommon to Fowler’s paintings, evokes the relationship between a direct visual encounter and memory or emotion.

The porousness of borders 2023
91.5 x 122cm synthetic polymer paint, oil paint, oil stick, spray paint, mica flakes, course alumina and coloured pencil on masonite panel

Emotions abstracted

Emotions Abstracted

22 March – 09 April

Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, QLD
Ph +61 7 3254 1855

To request a catalogue of the exhibition please email the gallery here

Artist statement

‘The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes and, ironically, the more real.’
Lucian Freud

After spending several years deciphering and creating images related to the outside world, the impetus for this body of work was to go in the opposite direction. To take away all references and symbols to the exterior world and instead turn inwards. Much like closing your eyes and meditating on an object or the breath, these paintings function in a similar way. The basic concept was taken from Robert Plutchik’s ‘wheel of emotions’ where he suggests 8 primary bipolar emotional states: joy / sadness; anger / fear; trust / disgust; surprise / anticipation. Additionally, this circumplex model makes connections between the idea of an emotion circle and a colour wheel. Like colours, primary emotions can be expressed at different intensities and can mix with one another to form different emotions.

Each painting utilises one primary, secondary or tertiary colour (or emotion) as it’s base. Layered on top are then opposing or harmonious colours, shapes, symbols and textures. I wanted to create resplendent tableaus that explore the idea of emotions primarily through the use of colour. The aim was to create dynamic compositions that are both peaceful and potent at the same time. The mood my paintings create - and possibly the reason why people respond to them, is because they somehow express something real, even though they look dreamy and odd. I try to convey through pigments, the same emotional response that you have when listening to a favourite song or watching a film you love.

Fred Fowler 2022

Pictured above:
untitled 6 (2022) 80 x 90cm Synthetic polymer paint and mica flakes on wood panel
untitled 23 (2022) 80 x 90cm Synthetic polymer paint and mica flakes on wood panel
untitled 20 (2022) 80 x 90cm Synthetic polymer paint and mica flakes on wood panel
untitled 2 (2022) 80 x 90cm Synthetic polymer paint and mica flakes on wood panel

Photo: Bridget O’Shea

Samizdat

This experimental digital work is based on an idea put forth in David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, which is about a film so entertaining, that its viewers lose all interest in anything other than repeatedly viewing it, and thus eventually die. I always fantasised about what ‘the Entertainment’ or ‘the samizdat’ as it is referred to in the book would resemble in reality. Animated GIFs as a medium are so dreamy and mesmerising, so a collage made of layered pulsating oversaturated GIFs is what I imagined this idea would look like.

Samizdat 1 (digital, looping)
Dimensions: 1078 × 606
Duration: 0:15
Blockchain: Ethereum

Samizdat 2 (digital, looping)
Dimensions: 1078 × 606
Duration: 0:15
Blockchain: Ethereum

Samizdat 3 (digital, looping)
Dimensions: 1078 × 606
Duration: 0:15
Blockchain: Ethereum

Samizdat 4 (digital, looping)
Dimensions: 1078 × 606
Duration: 0:15
Blockchain: Ethereum

Grey Noise

Grey Noise
6 - 24 April
Sophie Gannon Gallery

Opening drinks Saturday April 10 3-5pm

Grey Noise (mid) 90 x 100cm (98 x 108 framed) synthetic polymer paint and gold leaf on wood panel

Artist statement:

These paintings are disjointed, emotional responses to the idea of place. Fragments of places, symbols floating in fields of seductive colour and texture. When I think of place I don’t see a clear picture, it’s more like elements of different places and feelings. Blurs of the bark that you touched at a picnic, how a lagoon looked under moonlight when wading through with a dolphin torch trying to catch prawns, the root that you stubbed your toe on coming back from the beach barefoot. What I’ve tried to capture in these pictures is more of a vibe than anything solid, defined or overly literal. It’s the feeling that these places bring up, there’s a potency to these places in our consciousness, and what I’m interested in is the emotion we attach to them.

Traditional landscapes are based the past, a snapshot of a place at a point in time. It’s an outdated way of working, hanging on to the past. What I’m trying to capture is the feeling that places evoke, the condition of now and the possibilities of what they could become. It’s a non linear way of thinking about places and our connection to them.

Fred Fowler 2021

Come down to us 90 x 100cm (98 x 108 framed) synthetic polymer paint and mika flakes on wood panel

For all sales enquiries please contact Sophie Gannon Gallery.

This Is Water

Very proud to announce my upcoming solo exhibition This Is Water at Jan Murphy Gallery.

04 August – 22 August

Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley Qld 4006 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3254 1855
enquiries@janmurphygallery.com.au

Artist statement

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

David Foster Wallace

The above story, taken from David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College, captivated my imagination and has become a mantra that I try to live my life by. It’s a constant reminder that the most obvious and important realities are often overlooked because we don’t have the perspective to see them for what they are.

After the bushfires last summer when it felt like the whole country was on fire, it made me think about what is really at stake as we experience a climate crisis. The waterholes and caves that animals need to seek refuge. The specific habitats and ecosystems that threatened species need in order to survive. The fact that in some places if the temperature of the ocean rises by a seemingly insignificant degree, that we stand to lose a  species of coral, giant forests of kelp, or permanently disrupt the breeding patterns of marine animals. Life that was thriving only a few years earlier could be gone forever. 

I think paintings are an art form that can be visually seductive but also laden with potent symbology, and once you’re drawn in you can find deeper meaning beyond the allure of the surface. Hopefully by looking at my paintings, you feel like you’re gazing out of a window somewhere remote, unfamiliar and beautiful. Where the more you look, the more you start to notice interactions between flora and fauna, nature and the man made, and the impact that our way of life is having on the environment. 

Sometimes when I’m bushwalking or at a remote beach, I stop for a moment to look around and can’t see any people, cars, houses or man made structures. There is an otherworldly sensation that I would be seeing the same thing if this were 500 or even 5000 years ago. The feeling of time standing still and being surrounded by nature is truly magical. We are more than lucky to live in such a vast and wondrous country. This work is a celebration of what we have and what we need to protect. This is water.

Fred Fowler, 2020

Pictured above: Mooloomba Rd, Point Lookout, synthetic polymer paint and oil paint on wood panel 90 x 100cm

Signifying Landscapes

Excited to announce my new solo exhibition Signifying Landscapes opening on the 6th of November at Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne.

This exhibition features recent paintings that explore the contemporary Australian physical and cultural landscape through symbols and signifiers set against seductively bright backgrounds.

Signifying Landscapes
6 – 23 November 2019

Sophie Gannon Gallery 
2 Albert Street Richmond
9421 0857
info@sophiegannongallery.com.au

For any sales enquiries please contact the gallery.

Pictured above: Alone again with the dawn coming up (2019) 90 x 100cm Synthetic polymer paint, mica flakes, gold leaf and oil paint on wood panel

Sophie Gannon Gallery

I’m delighted to announce representation by Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne.

Sophie Gannon Gallery 
2 Albert Street Richmond
9421 0857
info@sophiegannongallery.com.au

Pictured above: Night Parrot Sanctuary [2018] oil paint on canvas 187 x 144.5cm (185.5 x 144.5cm framed)

HOME / VISITORS

HOME / VISITORS
26th June – 21st July 2018

 Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick Street
Post Office Box 2251
Fortitude Valley Qld 4006 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3254 1855
enquiries@janmurphygallery.com.au

 To receive a copy of the catalogue or for any sales enquiries please contact – enquiries@janmurphygallery.com.au or call the gallery on +61 7 3254 1855

 Artist Statement

While walking my dog past a local sports oval a while ago I noticed a scoreboard that had the words Home / Visitors painted on it. Out of the context of sport those two words really captured my imagination. What is home? And who are the visitors? I used these questions as a jumping off point thematically to explore ideas of place and belonging.

As a research tool for this series of paintings I’ve been using Google Earth to study suburbs such as Peppermint Grove and Vaucluse, and also places that are harder to access in person such as mines, detention centres and remote communities. I’m looking for sites of significance in relation to the idea of the Australian landscape, both physically and culturally. There’s a tension in these contrasting places that I’m interested in capturing.

Fred Fowler
2018

Pictured above: Assimilation (Join, or Die) 132 x 148cm oil paint and oil stick on canvas

Photo: Amelia Stanwix

Jan Murphy Gallery

I’m proud to announce that I’m now represented by Jan Murphy Gallery in Brisbane. My inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery will be from 26th June – 21st of July 2018.

Rare Visitors, Escaped Captives (2017) Oil paint, acrylic, gold mica flakes, and micraceous iron oxide on wood. 90 x 100cm

Small Craft on a Calm Sea

I’m thrilled to announce the release of my first limited edition print with Contemporary Editions. The print is titled ‘Small Craft on a Calm Sea’ and is taken from a recent oil painting of the same name.

The print is limited to an edition of 25 plus 3 artist proofs. It is a fine art print using archival pigment inks on 310gsm Hahnemule etching paper. The image size is 72 x 80cm and the paper size is 82 x 91cm. Each print is signed and numbered by me and is also embossed with the Contemporary Editions publishers chop.

The print will be available via the Contemporary Editions website this Friday the 1st of December at 12pm AEST.

By this river

By This River (2017) Oil paint and micaceous iron oxide on wood 62 x 72cm (framed)

 Included in the exhibition ‘Icon’ curated by Cassie May, at the Richmond Town Hall.
8th August – 27th October 2017

Spring 1883

I am thrilled to present a new painting and two small bronze figures with Fort Delta as part of the Spring 1883 art fair in Sydney.

Entrance and Fair Registration via 5 Bridge Lane, Sydney, see venue map here.
6th – 9th September 2017

More info here

Pictured above: Late Immigrants (2017) Oil on wood, 76 x 91cm (78 x 93 framed)

Protectorate (Male) patinated bronze cast from wax, toothbrush and plastic rope 21 x 7 x 8cm, unique state

Oblique Landscapes

I’m delighted to announce my forthcoming solo exhibition Oblique Landscapes with Fort Delta in Melbourne. Please join me on Thursday the 21st of September from 6 – 8pm to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. Details below.

Oblique Landscapes by Fred Fowler
21st September – 14th October 2017

Fort Delta

Capitol Arcade (Basement Level)
Shop 59 / 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne
P: + 61 3 8804 0888
P: 0406 290 269

 Opening Thursday 21st of September

To receive a copy of the catalogue or for any sales enquiries please contact andy@fortdelta.com.au or call the gallery on 03 8804 0888 or 0406 290 269
* Presales will open at 12pm Friday the 15th of September.

Qantas curates

Qantas have recently launched new business class amenity kits featuring my work ‘7000 Ironbarks’ as part of Qantas Curates, a project that will showcase the work of 16 Australian artists over two years. Other artists include Lucy Simpson, Rachel Castle, Tom Blachford, Billie Justice Thomson, Jon Campbell, Bonnie and Neil, Craig and Carl, Liam Snootle, Kate Banazi, Jacob Leary, Luke Shadbolt, Megan Weston, Myra Yurtiwa (dec), Nicole Warne and Polly Pawuya Butler-Jackson.

Fruitbat Country

Fruitbat Country, oil paint and synthetic polymer paint on wood panel 180 x 130cm (Private commission)

Under Wild Skies

Fred Fowler is a visual explorer of wormholes, between civilisation and nature, native and invasive species, conflict and resolution. His paintings are seductive tableaux that subvert colonial traditions of landscape painting, and articulate the Australian condition past and present.

Under Wild Skies transforms Australia into densely textured walls of colour, torn between a complex past and an uncertain but joyous future. These works are based not only on the physical landscape, but also the cultural and psychological landscape of Australia.

Fred’s distinctive paintings bring together a collage of symbols – the local pool, sections of bushland, ghost nets, boats and buildings all combine to make place. With the addition of spirits, figures and animals comes biodiversity and interactions, which is where the paintings start to come alive.

Under Wild Skies by Fred Fowler
3rd – 8th December 2016

TDF Collect
14 Little Oxford St
Collingwood, VIC

Pictured above: The Keyholes oil, acrylic, micaceous iron oxide and mica flakes on wood 102.5 x 117.5cm (framed)

Gorman collaboration

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I'm proud to announce the release of a collaboration with designer Lisa Gorman. The 43 piece collection features various elements from my paintings and drawings across a variety of fabrics and garments. More info at http://www.gormanshop.com.au/ and http://www.gormanshop.com.au/fred-fowler.html

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Provenance Does Matter: The Collectors' Exhibition at Alcaston Gallery

Alcaston Gallery presents: ‘Provenance Does Matter: The Collectors’ Exhibition‘. A  collection of major artworks by important Australian and international artists with impeccable provenance. Curated by Beverly Knight, each artwork has had the added prestige of being selected by critical appraisers to be featured in significant museum exhibitions and art prizes.

Exhibiting Artists: Hector Burton, Willy Kaika Burton, Jimmy Donegan, Jaye Early, Emily Ngarnal Evans, Fred Fowler, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Willie Gudabi, The Hermannsburg Potters, Naomi Hobson, Judy Holding, Tjungkara Ken, Shirley Macnamara, Karen Mills, Claudia Moodoonuthi, Ginger Riley Munduwalawala, Guykuda Mununggurr, Eubena Nampitjin, Greg Semu, Dean Smith, Angela Tiatia, and Lucy Yukenbarri.

22 March – 30 April 2016

Alcaston Gallery11 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy,
Melbourne, Victoria, 3065 Australia

Invaded Landscapes at Koskela

This series of paintings investigates the impact of colonisation on the Australian landscape and its peoples. Symbols of native and invasive flora and fauna function as the main signifiers within the work. By building up layers of colour and texture, layers of meaning evolve as well, creating a ‘visual wall of colour’. The semi abstract and ambiguous nature of the paintings are deliberately left open to different interpretations by the viewer.

‘By looking at the land from various visual perspectives I’ve attempted to capture some of the vastness and complexities that make this continent and its cultures so unique.’

Invaded Landscapes will be showing at Koskela in Sydney from March 12 – April 10.

Opening celebration:
March 12th  2 – 3:30pm

Koskela
1/85 Dunning Ave Rosebery NSW 2018
02 9280 0999info@koskela.com.au

Pictured above: Lovers and whales (2016) oil paint, spray-paint and acrylic on wood 60 x 72cm (framed)