Featured Image: Holly Greenwood. Waiting for schnitty, 2022. Oil on board. 90 x 120cm. Courtesy: the artist and James Makin Gallery

In her latest body of work, I was born here and I’ll die here, Greenwood has transposed her translucent free gouache studies into large works in oil. Despite the change in scale, these works retain the immediacy of working in situ at the pub. Luminous pops of colour seem to shimmer out of the darkness, illuminating figures sipping beers or deep in conversation. Australian pub culture continues to be a source of fascination for Greenwood. For the artist, this is a timely subject in a world where human connection has been eroded by the pandemic and where our reliance on technology has exacerbated a sense of isolation from each other. A pub provides a space to connect with strangers. In a pub you can let your guard down and conversations can reveal innermost thoughts – where even deeply held secrets can waft to the surface, from climate skepticism to long held political views. And then there is the country pub, where solitary drinkers can still feel a sense of community and can quench their loneliness with a beer.

Opening: 10 July, 2pm