Walk past the graffiti-covered roller doors of Chinese Food Gourmet, Indo Australian Caterers and Dutchey and Son Tattoo Studio and you wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
But artist Catherine O’Donnell has a way with pencil and paper, transforming these mundane, slightly depressing urban landscapes into something extraordinary and even alluring.
The latest exhibition by O’Donnell draws inspiration from the outlying residential areas of Sydney.
Her ‘Recent Drawings’ capture the after-dark, uninhabited side of the urban landscape, with the abandoned-looking buildings more often than not the victim of aspiring graffiti artists.
O’Donnell examines how culture, history and architecture all intermingle to inform our everyday lives.
In doing so her drawings extract beauty from the monotony of urban life. In one particular image, she captures the pattern of the bricks and windowsills of a building’s façade, giving life to an otherwise lacklustre, depressing apartment block.
The opening night for ‘Recent Drawings’ is this Thursday 28 October, 6-8pm – habitusliving.com readers are welcome to attend.
The exhibition runs from 28 October – 20 November 2010
Boutwell Draper Gallery, Redfern
boutwelldrapergallery.com.au
82 – 84 George Street
Redfern, Sydney