1 - 31st October 2024

ARTGARAGES

99 New South Head Road, Edgecliff

One cannot help but directly think of Giles Alexander the artist in relation to the maxim Know Thyself. As a painter he belongs to a long-standing academic tradition of virtuously handled oil painting and precision draughtsmanship, yet he stands aside from this, quite purposefully drawing attention to moments where he departs from tradition. This is not wilful contrariness.

Alexander uses and abuses his polished aesthetic as another way of interrogating his world, provocatively challenging the established ‘norm’ and questioning all that we hold dear. There is a visual pun in these paintings between ‘space’ as a crucial component of all painting and ‘space’ the final frontier. Alexander has always focused his attentions on real and imagined space, often drawing our attention to the shifting boundaries between the two.

Kate Bryan, British art historian and curator, Director, The Fine Art Society, New Bond St, London.