August 12, 2018
Greg Mallyon latest exhibition The River
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Greg Mallyon has long been inspired by the aerial perspective of Australia from his many travels to the heart of the outback, seeing one of its (and the worlds) most ancient rivers The Finke. Sometimes a dry creek bed, sometimes a string of waterholes, or in times of rare rainfall, a raging torrent. This river is symbolic of the endless cycle of life on earth. Mallyon’s other river inspirations include, the historic Coopers Creek, the mighty Hawkesbury, Murray and Darling Rivers as well as Melbourne’s iconic Yarra.

The human fascination for observing and documenting the surrounding countryside from above has been dated back to the Neolithic period. Within Australia, ancient Aboriginals created imagined aerial images that depicted ancestral paths to watering holes and sacred sites – long before the invention of air travel. Europeans developed maps of whole continents of imagined aerial perspective, aided with mathematical calculations derived from surveys and astronomical relationships.

This exhibition focuses on the vital arterial heartbeat of any landscape – the river. Every river is part of a larger system - beginning with a water source such as rain or snowmelt from mountain tops or even underground springs. Each river morphs into tributary systems, floodplains, lakes, wetlands and normally river mouths that eventually feed back into the ocean. In the case of Australia, about half of rivers drain inland and often end in beautiful ephemeral salt lakes.

These river systems can bring life to the most arid places on the planet. They support flora, fauna and of course human life that couldn’t exist without their presence. In this exhibition Mallyon uses natural ochres and pigments to create richly textured paintings which not only chart and map terrain, but also tap into the essence of the land and highlight its hidden powers.

Opening Thursday 23rd of August 2018, 6-8pm T: 9787 2953 all sites E: reception@manyunggallery.com.au

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