Richard Morecroft | Internal Logic
Olsen Annexe, 2-19 October 2024
“Speaking of his own paintings, Richard Morecroft refers to his fascination with biological, geological and astronomical systems, drawing connections with certain processes of Nature. These concerns are clearly present in the paintings themselves. The geometry of human intervention, as well as interplay between Nature and human structures, are also clearly present. Materiality is exceptionally well developed and clear in the work.
I have been very interested in these paintings for several years, because they really are paintings. I mean that they are felt and experienced in the making and therefore that they convince by the way in which they are painted, not as translation of an idea. The sense in each of the paintings is that we are present at an inevitable necessity, and at the same time to the awkwardness of the real.
To my eyes, these paintings describe specifically Australian conditions, and I relate Morecroft’s paintings to the work of solitary European Australians such as Ralph Balson and Elwyn Lynn. Therefore, to me, they also carry the suggestion of an alternative Art History, one which is more focused on the materiality of local experience than the conventional account.” — Charlie Sheard, September 2024
Artist Bio
Richard Morecroft has been exhibiting over the last 20 years in parallel with an often more public media-related career. His works encompass painting, photographic media and mixed media constructions, referencing biological and geological themes and exploring ambiguous landscapes as metaphors for human impact on the spaces we occupy.
“Logic and the utilisation of the spaces around us are inextricably intertwined. All of us are hard-wired to look for connections; we search for patterns, causes, consequences. We want to understand how things work; we need things to make sense so we can predict outcomes. And wherever we strive for possession and for purpose, we create patterns of our impact around us.” — Richard Morecroft
