Growers and Showers delves into the diverse materiality of Dale Frank’s expanded painting practice. Frank is renowned for his vivid, glossy, abstract paintings, and his highly experimental approach to artmaking, evident in his wide-ranging use of materials and multidisciplinary approach. Presented over two floors of the NAS Gallery, this significant survey exhibition includes over 40 large-scale paintings made over the last decade. The works showcase a multitude of mediums and unexpected surfaces, from poured epoxy-glass on metallic Perspex, to CDs, human hair wigs, shattered glass and air vent ducts. A true maximalist, the gallery environment will also include sculpture, sound and performance to create an immersive viewer experience that tests the boundaries of abstraction and explores the potentiality of painting.
Dale Frank is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists. Since the 1970s, Frank has enjoyed a successful international career as a conceptual artist. Best known for his vivacious abstract paintings, his multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, drawing, performance, film, and installation. His work has been widely exhibited since the 1980s, including at PS1, New York (1981), the Biennale of Sydney (1982), and the 42nd Venice Biennale (1983 and 1984). More recently he has shown at the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art (2014); the 55th Venice Biennale (2013) and the National Gallery of Victoria (2015). In 2000, a major solo retrospective of his work was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney. Frank’s work is held in all major Australian state galleries, as well as number of international collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA; the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, New Zealand; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Dale Frank is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney, Neon Parc in Melbourne, Gow Langsford Gallery in New Zealand and Pearl Lam in Hong Kong.
