ALEX PITTENDRIGH

THE SHOW OF MONSTERS
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Studio 12 Exhibition

Alex Pittendrigh’s The Show of Monsters presented as an exhibition of drawings, all of which had been created during his studio residency at Gertrude Contemporary. Pittendrigh’s complex and delicate drawings arose from an art practice based on speculative contemplation and solitary investigation. The works were the product of introspective studio time, documenting the gradual unfurling of an idea onto the page. The result was a series of monstrous forms, organically working their way across the page. Inspired by Pittendrigh’s Rome residency of 2002, the forms and ideas underpinning The Show of Monsters arose from the history of Italian artmaking – from visual to decorative arts and encompassing craft, architecture and design practices. Rather than the designs and objects themselves, the drawings investigated the psychology and process, tangible behind the material reality of such forms. Thus, the drawings presented as the material trace of a psychological process, the result of research and speculation into ephemeral ideas and historical moments. The Show of Monsters was a subtle and intriguing collection of works which provided an insight into the ongoing and investigative aspects of studio practice.

Alexander Pittendrigh completed a degree in painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994 and has since presented individual exhibitions at Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne in 2001 and 1st Floor, Melbourne in 2001, 1999 and 1997. Following his 2002 Australia Council residency at The British School in Rome, his work was in included in the exhibition Vanitas at the Rome Opera Theatre. Other group exhibitions include Bootylicious, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne 2001; The Form Guide, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne 2000; Nostalgia for the Apocalypse, Swinburne University Gallery, Melbourne 2000; Gesamtkunstwerk, Lovers Artists Space, Melbourne 1999; Exhumed II, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra 1999; and Chemistry, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne 1999. Alex was a founding member of 1st Floor Artists and Writers Space in Melbourne.
[Biographical information current as at February, 2004]