MELBOURNE.- In 2019, Australian artist Gregory Hodge moved to Paris for a residency with the Cité Internationale des Arts, making a home for himself and his family in the French capital. Once the residency was over, they decided to stay and Hodge has called the city home ever since. Influenced by his time there, the artist’s highly sought-after, richly textured paintings bear witness to his potent artistic evolution and adaptable visual language.
Hodge’s work has long examined illusionistic painting and the tradition of Trompe l'oeil mimicry – how paint can mimic other surfaces. His compositions oscillate between abstraction and figuration, layering personal, everyday source material with painterly gestural marks and obscured motifs of foliage, interiors and architecture.
Inspired by 16th and 17th century French tapestries, his finely wrought works bring a contemporary perspective to the history and form of painting, eschewing a slick, pop finish for a deliberately handmade quality, designed to resemble the warp and weft of woven materials.
“Each development in Hodge’s visual language comes from how paint acts as a metaphor for the world around him. Through Hodge’s practice, we can see how timeless painting can be, while remaining attuned to its time and place” – Tony Curran, Australian National University
Hodge grew up in Canberra and studied at the Australian National University’s (ANU) School of Art & Design, completing an Honours in Painting in 2005, and a PhD in 2016. He has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Wynne Prize (2023) and Sulman Prize (2017 and 2016); Bendigo Art Gallery’s Arthur Guy Memorial Prize (2019); and The Geelong Art Prize (2018).
Hodge’s work is held in several permanent collections including those of the National Gallery of Australia, Wollongong Art Gallery, the A.C.T Legislative Assembly, and the Australian National University. Internationally, Hodge has completed residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris, 2019 – 2020, the British School at Rome, 2015, and Basso Berlin in 2011.
He recently exhibited at Paris gallery, Le Pavé d’Orsay, in June 2023; and earlier this month, collaborated with renowned interior design and decorative arts proponents, Galerie May, for Paris Design Week.
Sullivan+Strumpf
Gregory Hodge: Through Surface
November 2nd, 2023 - December 2nd, 2023
Opening event, Thursday 2 November, 5.30 – 7.30pm
