The work "Untitled Still Life" was a finalist in the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery's signature program, Still: National Still Life Award. In 2017, this award was expanded from having a focus solely on still life painting to include artworks in all mediums. As a high quality mixed media assemblage, this work signals an imaginative and contemporary interpretation of the still life genre and new direction for the gallery's collection. The still life genre is the specialist focus of the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s collection, with still life artworks identified as the first priority in the gallery’s collection policy, Section 2.4.2 (1): “Works in this section reflect still life genre, as per artworks acquired through the National Still Life Award (Still) as well as through donation, purchase, transfer and bequest.”

Brendan Smith is an Australian artist, garden-maker and educator who has been making and exhibiting art since the 1980s. Currently based in Sydney, he was an active participant in the Brisbane art scene of the late 1980s and early 90s, which was dominated by vibrant, experimental artist-run spaces. He later worked as “co-author and project manager” with artist Tim Johnson. His work is highly idiosyncratic, using found objects such as timber discards and commonplace fabrics to explore memory, material, symbolism and overlooked aspects of everyday life. It has both a minimalist and poetic quality, with strong echoes of the arte povera movement.

[Written by Jo Besley, 27 February 2019]

Still-life mixed media assemblage on wooden slab. Polymer and enamel painted wood with various materials including PVA glue, nails; various objects including metals, plastics.