Opens on Sep 6 until Sep 28, 2025
Upstairs |
PJ Hickman
SOLD OUT
.
Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 cm, 2025
SOLD OUT continues the artist’s reductive aesthetic and conceptual approach to painting, in a playfully sophisticated blend of art historical references, wit, and contemporary revisionism.
The painting explores and critiques ‘painting’ through the history and conventions of painting, the art world generally, including the context and function of the gallery itself, creating a new situation and set of meanings.
The painting is an ironic commentary on the commodification of art and the operation of the contemporary art market.
Accusations that an artist had ‘sold out’ used to be the worst insult that could be made.
These days ‘selling out’ is seen as a positive move, everything is about popularity, staying on trend and making a sale, just ‘add to cart’. A ‘sold out’ exhibition is a success both for the gallery and the artist
Can an artist cross that line and become a ‘successful’ collectible artist without selling out? Afterall full-time artists need to make a living from art, even if this might involve making work to appeal to a mainstream audience.
But…don’t we still really admire artists who didn’t ‘sell out’, even if it’s really an expression of personal taste?
The painting explores and critiques ‘painting’ through the history and conventions of painting, the art world generally, including the context and function of the gallery itself, creating a new situation and set of meanings.
The painting is an ironic commentary on the commodification of art and the operation of the contemporary art market.
Accusations that an artist had ‘sold out’ used to be the worst insult that could be made.
These days ‘selling out’ is seen as a positive move, everything is about popularity, staying on trend and making a sale, just ‘add to cart’. A ‘sold out’ exhibition is a success both for the gallery and the artist
Can an artist cross that line and become a ‘successful’ collectible artist without selling out? Afterall full-time artists need to make a living from art, even if this might involve making work to appeal to a mainstream audience.
But…don’t we still really admire artists who didn’t ‘sell out’, even if it’s really an expression of personal taste?
PJ Hickman is a Melbourne based artist renowned for his uncompromising Minimal and conceptual approach to painting.
He has exhibited extensively in institutional and private galleries in Australia, America, and Europe. His work is now represented in numerous institutional, corporate, and private collections.
His meticulous work is often a response to the increasingly prevalent viewing of contemporary art through digital images. His approach reverses and translates the digital image back into the material dimension of painting. He uses a bold, refined, graphic simplicity of black and white, making the surface appear as if it were printed mechanically in an instant.
He has exhibited extensively in institutional and private galleries in Australia, America, and Europe. His work is now represented in numerous institutional, corporate, and private collections.
His meticulous work is often a response to the increasingly prevalent viewing of contemporary art through digital images. His approach reverses and translates the digital image back into the material dimension of painting. He uses a bold, refined, graphic simplicity of black and white, making the surface appear as if it were printed mechanically in an instant.
Artist profile
$600
Image copyright of the artist
