Besides being a whole lot of fun to say, Urbanal/Schmurbanal is also an exhibition that looks at friends and collaborators Matthew Venables and Paul Gilsenan's "accounts of life within the urban mundane".
Paul is a Sydney-based artist who describes himself as a "scribbler, painter and lover". He also goes by the name of his alter-ego cartoon character Duckman, and Duckman (or is it Paul?) has been working on a collection of paintings that has been five years in the making. These are fantasy pieces set in an urban landscape.
Matthew on the other hand, is a photographer who also dabbles in video and animation. He's also one of the founders of 107 Projects — so this is a project close to his heart. He's photographed existing things and places within urban settings that look at 'all things city', and he's been working on them for three to four years.
That's two artists, working in two mediums, who have been working on their pieces for a long time. These aren't works thrown together at the last minute by any means.
Summed up, this exhibition is photography versus painting, which explores life in an urban setting. It's all so Urbanal/ Schmurbanal.
Image by Matthew Venables.