Anthony Lister: The Flower Show

Overview

Every Brisbanite knows Anthony Lister — either his work, or his story. The former decorated the city's traffic signal boxes, brightening up more than 120 of them with his distinctive creations, all with the permission of Brisbane City Council. The latter, however, took a turn into interesting territory when BCC later took him to court on graffiti-related charges.

In early April, you can catch his tale on screen in the excellent documentary Have You Seen the Listers?, and from March 22 to May 5, you can also see his latest exhibition at Fireworks Gallery. With the title Anthony Lister: The Flower Show, you can guess what he's focusing on — but, in his series of multi-coloured creations, it's a little like Brisbane street art meeting Van Gogh and Andy Warhol.

As Lister explains, "Van Gogh was a delusional, antisocial sociopath — I can relate to that. Andy Warhol was a psychopath — I can also relate to that… It is agreed though they both made some very good paintings while they were alive… I have (for the sake of history and conversation) created a series of amalgamation paintings that celebrate the genius of both Van and Andy by unifying the qualities I am most attracted to of each."