TRAVERSE 2017

TRAVERSE by Dino Consalvo explores the journey towards abstraction, starting with bridges, which were his subject matter for solo exhibition Sydney: A Bridged earlier this year. While tackling the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge to the concrete arch of Gladsville, Consalvo was seduced by the interplay between curves, angles, T-interections, light and shade that form the basis for any bridge structure. He continued to paint en plein air and back in the studio and fully immersed himself in this subject. Realising early on that the bridge paintings were providing solid imagery to experiment with, through the painting of these representational subjects, emerged a unique abstract language.

Choosing to work in acrylics and gouache and to experiment with monotype printmaking and paintings on unorthodox bases such as cement and synthetic sheet, Consalvo has reduced his colour palette, zoomed in on his subject matter and has produced a series of reductive works that are explorative of shape, line and colour combination. For the first time we see the emergence of many fully abstracted paintings coming out of a predominately representational/narrative painter. An exciting leap into the unknown for Consalvo and for the future of this artist.

Ahn Wells
September 2017

Individual works