bruce thurrowgood ― tasmanian outing

Enigmatic artist Bruce Thurrowgood is about to introduce his stunning photorealism style paintings to local art enthusiasts with his first Tasmanian solo exhibition – Looking in: 50 years of Painting. This is a highly anticipated event, and a coup for Handmark Gallery as it unveils the works of this acclaimed Australian artist who now calls Bicheno home.

As well as new paintings, the exhibition on November 27 will feature a retrospective of Bruce’s art through the decades. It begins in the 1970’s with his exploration of geometric minimalistic themes, before moving to the 80’s and his discovery of photorealism. By the early 2000’s Bruce is experimenting with cropping, expressed in extra close-up imagery, much of it inspired by the water around his Bicheno home.

“I love the light here, and the unique turquoise colours of the ocean in the North East,” Bruce explains. “I am especially fascinated by the lines of light that project themselves over the sand and through the surface of the water.”

This is beautifully illustrated in Looking in: 1,000 Rainbows which is one of Bruce’s new works. Here we marvel at the interplay of light and water as Bruce “looks into” the water and finds that “thousands of tiny rainbows edge the pattern of light.”

Walking down to the beach at the end of his street, Bruce now has an endless supply of imagery to share with local art lovers: “Water is my predominant theme. I am interested in looking at the substance and patterns and not being caught up in the context,” Bruce tells us. “It is so wonderful being able to show my works to a new Tasmanian audience”

Handmark’s Looking in: 50 years of Painting exhibition opens on Friday November 27.