TONY CLARK
Nilotic
29 May – 26 June 2021
STATION | SYDNEY
For Nilotic, Tony Clark presents a series of new paintings with Egyptian themes, which interrogate the Western art canon’s preoccupation with imagery of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Egyptian culture. ‘Nilotic’ is a term given to describe scenes in ancient art that include imagery of the River Nile, or of flora and fauna from the geographic region of the Nile in North Africa. Clark’s use of the term makes reference to the so-called ‘Egyptomania’ of 19th Century Neoclassicism and, even earlier, the prevelance of Egyptian culture in Ancient Roman art.
The paintings in Nilotic are rendered in Clark’s highly-recognisable, restricted palette of four colours (light blue, light pink, raw sienna and black), with which he has been working since the early 1990s. Several of these new works are envisaged by the artist as proposals for public artefacts – stage designs, mosaics and sculpted reliefs. Art as a ‘proposal’ is a strategy that Clark has utilised since his first exhibition, Technical Manifesto Of Town Planning, in 1982.
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Buehnenbild) 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic 2021
installation view
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape with Sections from Clark’s Myriorama (Buehnenbild) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
4 panels, overall 51.0 × 102.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Buehnenbild) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
2 panels; overall 40.5 × 81.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Two Sections from Clark’s Myriorama within a feigned frame) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
2 panels; overall 61.0 × 91.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Two Sections from Clark’s Myriorama within a feigned frame) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
2 panels; overall 61.0 × 91.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Buehnenbild) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
50.0 × 50.0 cm
Tony Clark
Design for a door surround with Sections from Clark’s Myriorama 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
61.0 × 122.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landscape (Buehnenbild) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
203.0 × 203.0 cm
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landcape 1 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
218.0 × 80.0 cm approx
Tony Clark
Nilotic Landcape 2 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
218.0 × 80.0 cm approx
Tony Clark
Putto Antinous 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
122.0 × 31.0 cm
Tony Clark
Standing Putto 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas
50.0 × 40.0 cm
Tony Clark
Putto Sphinxes (pair) 2021
acrylic and ink on canvas board
2 panels; overall 30.5 × 61.0 cm