Jonathan Crowther: Anything But Ordinary

Overview

In naming his latest exhibition, Brisbane artist Jonathan Crowther isn't just blowing his own trumpet. The sculptor and painter takes everyday items — a kernel of popped corn, the ring pull from a can of drink, and a twisted piece of Blu-Tack, for example — and makes them look extraordinary.

Breathing life into seemingly mundane subject matter by using incredibly skilful photorealism is what he does, after all, and he does it well. It's not just the things he chooses to depict that makes his work interesting, but also the large scale that he works on.

How else could he ask audiences to reconsider objects they probably see every day, and barely even notice, let alone offer a second glance to? And how else could he use them to try to bridge the divide between high and low art? To many, a piece of popcorn is something you munch upon at the movies and pay no further attention to. To Crowther, the same thing blown up big is a sight to behold in its own right. Now that really is anything but ordinary.