Allie Webb, Tablescape, 2022. Linocut relief print on Somerset 300gsm, 72.5 x 97cm plate size. Courtesy: the artist and Olsen Annexe.

Sydney-based artist Allie Webb is widely celebrated for her unique approach to traditional artmaking, treating timeless subjects to graphic representation. Her established practice has informed the aesthetic identities of countless culinary establishments across the city. So naturally, her lively scenes tend to be set around a dining table, an altar of routine and ritual—charged with social and structural value.

The artist has found great inspiration in the experiments of the Cubists, artists once keen to deconstruct the very object of looking by any means necessary. Her works distil elements to their most basic forms, often relying on a mere silhouette to generate visual interest in her prints and drawings. These resulting tableaux celebrate the character of their subjects, whether a meal, conversation or streetscape, and conjure the particular essence of a moment in time rather than its minor details. Webb’s obsession with the culture of dining out is made tangible in every bustling composition.

Opening event: 19 October 5 – 7pm.