Truth and Untruth
Exhibition opening
September 2, 8pm
Ryrie St Gallery, 64 Ryrie St, Geelong
Ph (03) 5258 2906
Queenscliff artist Peter Forward's paintings explore the outcomes of rapid change in a volatile world. "Wars are being undertaken on our behalf for spurious reasons", Forward explained in a statement about his work. "Refugees from those wars, now called 'illegals', are being imprisoned without trial. We live in a world of the 'pre-emptive strike', 'collateral damage' and 'queue jumpers'. The language is being twisted to make the horrific acceptable."
Truth and Untruth will be opened by well-known political cartoonist Ron Tandberg in Geelong on September 2. Works by artists from the Bellarine branch of Rural Australians for Refugees are also part of the exhibition.
Forward describes his work as "an attempt to offer an alternative which is relevant to all", because "contemporary art-making has become increasingly divorced from the wider audience".
"The point of my work is to provoke the viewer both socially and visually, and to question and contemplate before condoning the actions of government."