Wish-landscapes New paintings by Graham Fletcher
Bartley Nees Gallery 14 September - 8 October, 2005
Like fantastical topographical landforms, Graham Fletcher's new wish-landscapes trace the utopian and point towards a
promised land yet to find its appropriate form.
In this exhibition, Fletcher¹s numerous experiments with paint and surface have manifested a diverse range of
wish-landscapes from works that balloon and bubble outwards on the verge of volcanic eruption, through spiky
stalactite-like tendrils that curl in accordance with the will of gravity, to pools and puddles built up from successive
colourful layers of paint.
The title comes from the writings of the German utopian theorist Ernst Bloch in The Utopian Function of Art and
Literature. According to Bloch, individuals are animated by "dreams of a better life," and by utopian longings for
fulfillment. Thus these wish-landscapes, conceived by the imagination of the artist, represent the search for a
landscape of virtual perfection.
ENDS