Chronology presents the work of two young Australian artists who share a laboured approach in their working practice. Chronology refers to the gradual development of each artists’s aesthetic - built up in many layers or with exacting, painstaking detail. The artists are otherwise distinct from one another: Meagher uses hundreds of mass produced ready made units in his sculptural collages and Dunlop builds his images in thick, textured paint.
Born in Sydney in 1975, Linton Meagher puts both of his two degrees in art and medicine to remarkable use in his evocative pieces created from empty pill capsules or scalpel blades. When taken out of their ordinary context the pills or blades, usually considered clinical and even menacing, can be transformed to create strikingly beautiful images which raise questions about medicine in modern society. New pieces also feature bullet shells as the medium of choice.
For Australian artist Stefan Dunlop, the skill, execution and craft of painting are a subject to be explored visually in themselves. He plays endlessly with paint thickness, volume, depth of colour and surface effect in his canvasses. However, the artist’s fascination with the act of painting and its materials does not prohibit a level of narrative in the work. Far from abstract, the paintings often feature developed compositional arrangements, for instance a recent series based on figures in conflict.