Descrizione Opera / Biografia
Drawing in Water” suite of works by Phillip George
Draw in Water is to attempt the impossible. The “Drawing in Water” suite, imagines the trace of time and culture as the grand fluidity of geo politics conspires to eradicate all before it. Like trying to draw in water the trace of home, country & culture can be easily liquidated without a trace.
The images titled Acheiropoieta, are works that come from a story told by a Louis de Bernières character, Georgio P. Theodooru. He recollects his life, his lost home and country, apologising for his incoherence as he slowly drowns, sinking to the bottom of the harbour in Smyrna. The eviscerated gold pigment recalls Byzantium and the way histories echo though time - the amulets are manifestations of his memories, recalling his life as it passes before his eyes These works are composed underwater, the structure determined by the current and the length of a held breath.
Acheiropoieta makes reference to a philosophical/religious Byzantine concept – put simply: ‘that made without the intervention of the human hand’. The image/icon is said to spring miraculously into existence - predicting photography 1,200 years before it is formally acknowledged in the West.
Phillip George
Born in Sydney lives and works in Australia
www.phillipogeorge.net
Phillip George’s practice operates across zones of cultural difference; exploring and
making connections between the complexities that exist between East and West.
George has exhibited widely over the past thirty years with exhibitions throughout
Australia, Europe, America and Asia.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS / EXHIBITIONS
Phillip George, Writing Landscape, Australian Centre for Photography Sydney, 2015
Phillip George, Borderlands, Islamic Museum of Australia Melbourne, 2014
Phillip George (group exhibition), CONNECTIONS, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2012.
Phillip George (group exhibition), Through the Roadblocks, Cyprus, 2010.
Phillip George, Borderlands, Casula Powerhouse in Sydney, 2008.
Phillip George (group exhibition), The Resilient Landscape, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney 2007.
Phillip George (group exhibition), The Institute for Electronic Arts 10-Year Survey Show, BS1
Contemporary Art Centre, Beijing, China, 2007.
Phillip George (group exhibition), Un Australian, National Museum of Australia, Canberra 2006.
Phillip George (group exhibition), NIGHT VISION, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney 2004
Phillip George (group exhibition), Photographica Australis, international touring exhibition: Bangladesh
Biennale, Dhaka & Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, 2004.
Phillip George, Photosynkyria, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Greece,2001
Phillip George, Thessaloniki Particles, Artspace, Sydney 1997.
Phillip George, il Mondo Mongrel Mnemosinon Mantra, Artspace, Auckland 1995.
Phillip George (group exhibition), Burning the Interface, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, 1996.
