By Christine de Kock
A FOOTSCRAY artist who has an interest in the “dark side” will be exhibiting his work at Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, next month.
Sean Richards’ portrait exhibition explores the concept of a person’s dark side and the idea that we are all strangers to each other.
He said some people might find the subject of the portraits disturbing.
“There’s a lot of focus on the darker sides of humanity, some portraits can be seen as morbid – there’s a guy being beaten in one,” he said.
“I’m kind of fascinated by the darker elements of society.
“The exhibition is kind of a celebration that these things exist.”
Richards said it was important for people to look at, and confront, the darker elements of society and ourselves.
But he has used bright colours to capture the images on canvas.
The subjects of the paintings are either people Richards has photographed or downloaded images of from the internet. In one instance he features a person who appeared in advertisement.
“I don’t think we really see each other,” he said.
“I think all we ever see is just an image and I think we project our own view on others, based on our own experiences.”
Each of the portraits is painted in such a way as to look directly at the viewer. “The expressions in the eyes are quite important, you can see sadness or love – it is through the eyes that we really need to connect,” Richards said.
For contrast, the 12-piece exhibition features an image of a dog.
“They are very different from us, although they are kept in our homes and raised at times as if they were a child,” Richards said.
“The picture of the dog is included because there is an obvious divide – we don’t know anything of what a dog has experienced.”
Richards is well qualified. He has a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and a Diploma of Visual Arts from RMIT.
His work has been shown in 10 art exhibitions, and he won the VCA’s Ladner and Fell Acquisitive Prize for painting in 2004.
