Luke Cirsky: Visions of Graceful Absurdity

Overview

Artist Luke Cirsky used to dream vividly, and then stopped. Why, he wondered? Too much sugar? Sleeping too deeply? An over-developed prefrontal cortex? He didn't get an answer, so he did the next best thing: he made a show about it.

The collection of oil paintings in Visions of Graceful Absurdity is, Cirsky says, about "reclaiming those dreams, weaving them into a semi-coherent setting with fanciful ideas and beauty". Showcasing what the Gaffa Gallery describes as the artist's "almost bi-polar" style – one that combines painstaking brushwork with looser, experimental strokes, chiaroscuro and a love of patterns – the exhibition includes everything from still lifes to landscapes to the odd portrait.

Fans of surrealism should definitely check this one out, with the Sydney-based artist's brand of "warm surrealism" embracing all the whimsy and weirdness of the movement. Guaranteed to stimulate your senses and who knows, maybe inspire the odd Dali-esque dream that night.

Heads up: photography fans should also head to Gaffa earlier in the month to check out Jun Chen's While You Are Sleeping, running September 14 – 25.

Image: Luke Cirsky, Welcome to Leadlight Land, Oil on Canvas, 2017