Gallery > Anthem

Anthem, Matthew McAlpine’s first solo exhibition with Kolbusz Space, is a collection of recent abstract paintings that prods at the intersection of landscape, nationalism, and environmental degradation in contemporary Australia. Rendered with a selective palette with a gritty impasto surface achieved through the addition of builder’s sand in acrylic paint, the artworks poetically allude to colours and textures of charred landscapes.

Interested in the power of language and using the Australian National Anthem as a departure point, McAlpine has manipulated, removed, or added words to lines from the anthem. The text sits embedded in the paintings, applied with stencils, a process that metaphorically reckons with the construction of history, nationhood, and landscape. The idea of construction is further explored by using builder’s sand and fragments of a cast acrylic ornate frame in several works. The fragmented frames draw upon the continued presence of colonial legacies in contemporary Australia.

This exhibition was supported by a Creative Development Grant from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Western Australia.

Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Anthem, Kolbusz Space
Install shot
2022
Of beauty scorched and bare (Stirling)
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment, binder and cast acrylic paint on canvas
152 x 122 x 4cm
2022
We've burnt soil and ash for toil (Stirling)
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment, binder and cast acrylic paint on canvas
152 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Ash abounds (Stirling)
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment, binder and cast acrylic paint on canvas
152 x 122 x 4cm
2022
To mark this commonwealth
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
152 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Anthem
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
152 x 122 x 4cm
2022
In strains
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
122 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Ash abounds in nature's gifts
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
122 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Of all the lands
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
122 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Then let us singe
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
122 x 122 x 4cm
2022
For toil
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
122 x 122 x 4cm
2022
Study for Ash abounds
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
50.5 x 50.5 x 4cm
2022
Study for Then let us singe
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
50.5 x 50.5 x 4cm
2022
Study for We've burnt soil and ash for toil
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
50.5 x 50.5 x 4cm
2022
Study for Of beauty scorched and bare
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
61 x 50.5 x 4cm
2022
Study for Ash abounds in nature's gifts
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on canvas
61 x 50.5 x 4cm
2022
Study for Anthem I
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on board
47 x 23.5 x 2cm
2022
Study for Anthem II
Acrylic, sand, fluorescent pigment and binder on board
47 x 23.5 x 2cm
2022