Maximilian Daniels | Deconstructing | Catalogue

MAXIMILIAN DANIELS | DECONSTRUCTING PIERMARQ ART ADVISORY PTY LIMITED JONES BAY WHARF, SUITE 48, 26-32 PIRRAMA RD, PYRMONT NSW 2009 T +61 2 9660 7799 info@piermarq.com.au www.piermarq.com.au

MAXIMILIAN DANIELS | DECONSTRUCTING Wednesday 16 September 2015, 6-8pm Piermarq Gallery at Jones Bay Wharf Suite 48, 26-32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009, Sydney, Australia RSVP 02 9660 7799 or rsvp@piermarq.com.au

Piermarq is proud to present the inaugural solo exhibition by a talented young painter – only 23 years of age – set to take the market by storm. Maximilian Daniels (b. 1991) is a young emerging artist of extraordinary talents across the spectrum of both portraiture and abstraction, standing at the forefront of a promising career. He has joined his artistic training at the College of Fine Arts (COFA) at the University of NSW in Sydney where he finalised a double degree, one being his Bachelor of Arts in painting and drawing.

Maximilian Daniels believes intuition and expression to be intrinsically linked to his art making practice. For him this idea drives a process of observational abstraction, where examination of a stimulus allows a relationship to develop between gesture, form and subject. Working from naval models of ships his eye deconstructs the object drawing shapes and structures that translate to an image often divorced from its true physical form.

The attributes of this process allow his work an air of spontaneity, energy and movement where his passion for painting as a physical action or release is conveyed strongly to his audience. Playing with the distinction between representational abstraction and pure abstraction, he is able to compile a diverse body of work from a single stimulus.

Drawing and smaller studies are also important to forming and understanding of the subject in order to deconstruct it. The primary intention of life drawing and observation is to express a subject as accurately as possible. The drawings and studies depart from the original intention of traditional observational drawing towards personal impression, investigating ways in which a subject can be represented divorced of its true physical form. This depiction examines observation on a personal level and actively explores how gesture can be used in order to express a subject in a novel and interesting way.

Daniels recognises and explores cubist ideas of deconstructing form, using flattened areas of colour, shapes and line to delineate the subject. These principles are loosely incorporated within the works and development of the image is a cumulative, metamorphic process. Using the process of observation, Daniels is able to form his own impression, expression and intuitive image in relation to the model. The works acknowledge Neo-Expressionist Julian Schnabel’s statement, “Painting can proceed from one’s inspiration and can be complete and successful in the sense that it is materialised” (Julian Schnabel, 1983: 94).

Of particular importance to his current body of work is the thought experiment The Ship of Theseus. Commonly known as the Theseus’ paradox, the experiment questions whether an object could have all of its structural elements replaced and remain fundamentally the same object. The experiment, first documented by the philosopher Plutarch, is important in further understanding the motive for Daniels’ process of abstraction and the motif within the works.

Further, the act of model making replicates ideas of deconstruction and reconstruction important in Daniels’ work. Crafted by Daniels’ grandfather, the meticulous models embody a process of careful discipline which he aims to understand and investigate through breaking up and deconstructing the object. The process is also used as a method of capturing the model’s symbolic importance in representing his grandfather as a prominent figure during his upbringing, and to his family as a whole. Through his ties to the model Daniels develops a narrative between the history of the object and his relationship to it.

Featured in Artist ProďŹ le Magazine July 2015

Maximilian Daniels HMAS Galah, 2014 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels HMAS Pavlova, 2014 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels Trim, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels Galah Sun Shower, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels Repairs, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels The Pavlova under Sail, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 137 x 168 cm

Maximilian Daniels Pavlova in Full Flight, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 56 cm

Maximilian Daniels Pavlova Head Sea, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 56 cm

Maximilian Daniels Dead Ahead, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 56 cm

Maximilian Daniels Pavlova Return to Port, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 56 cm

Maximilian Daniels Pavlova Hauling, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 183 x 213 cm

Maximilian Daniels Galah at Port, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm

Maximilian Daniels Open Seas, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm

Maximilian Daniels Galah Morning Fog, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm

Maximilian Daniels Pavlova Starboard, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm

Maximilian Daniels Galah in Full Flight, 2015 Acrylic on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm

Contact us +61 2 9660 7799 info@piermarq.com.au JONES BAY WHARF SUITE 48, 26-32 PIRRAMA RD PYRMONT NSW 2009

PIERMARQ ART ADVISORY PTY LIMITED JONES BAY WHARF, SUITE 48, 26-32 PIRRAMA RD, PYRMONT NSW 2009 T +61 2 9660 7799 info@piermarq.com.au www.piermarq.com.au