Concrete Reverie continues Bradley’s longstanding investigation of the 21st century painting. High contrast renders are achieved through a process of heating dyes onto the textured surface of tapestry, adding a layer of spray paint cast over the digital source. Rich hues often unobtainable by anything but the chromatic intensity of a screen, or of paint itself, sit alongside both in a process Bradley has slowly developed over many years of investigation. In today’s screen-centric world, a conflation between the private and global occurs. Bradley’s pressing concern is how stories from the digital generation will be passed down through time. He intends for the work “to serve as a lasting screen memory of life in 2018”. Bradley studied New Media Video and Internet Art in the early 2000s, believing it was the medium of his generation. Due to concerns about its longevity and accessibility, he shifted his focus to painting as a medium that does not require power or software and will not become outdated or inaccessible through upgrades.
The works in this show begin with images from global news reportage. The actual reality of our rapid, click orientated news is often questionable, leading truth toward a kind of fantasy projection. Using images of reality as a kind of paint, simple gestures and abstractions are made to augment the real, altering the fabric of what we know to be fact. Like in a dream, what is actual and what is poetic become interlinked. Finally the digital works are finished to a high resolution tapestry in Japan. The outcome uses many small units of colour like a screen, that will outlast all electronic counterparts. Here again, tradition and technology are merged in a kind of 21st century dance. The past in the present. Truth in the dream.
Opening Reception: Saturday, 7 September, 5-7pm
Venue: Sullivan+Strumpf, 5 Lock Road #01-06, Singapore 108933
Hours: Tues – Sat 11-7pm
Sunday 11-6pm or by appointment
When: 7 Sep - 6 Oct 2019,
