The work of Ash Lieb deals in the absurd. Opening at Red Brick Gallery on January 18th “How not to be seen” is an exhibit of the vast contrast of absurdity in the world around us. While one element of the exhibition deals with the laughter, nonsense and ridicule of absurd or surreal humour the other deals with the philosophical definition of absurdism regarding the conflict between pursuing the meaning of life and the inability to find it.
In “How not to be seen” (a reference to the absurd humour of Monty Python) almost every pop surrealist piece rests precisely between the size of a can of Campbell’s soup and the size of any of Warhol’s soup paintings for an exhibit where most pieces are sized about thirty centimetres each. Lieb, who works digitally using photographs, drawings and found objects, composes each image in minute exquisite detail upon a computer screen in a process the artist likens to a kind of digital finger-painting.
The digital imagery in “How not to be seen” has been created by Lieb over the past six years, commencing during the artist’s university days when Lieb was fighting an aggressive cancer. Ash Lieb, who credits much of his creativity to cancer and madness, underwent surgery for a rare brain tumour in 2003 and 2007 whilst studying a Visual arts degree at Ballarat University. Every image in Lieb’s latest exhibition has been made locally by the artist using a little piece of Ballarat in every artwork, including things that people might not take much notice of, such as the bush land views of Brown Hill, the street corners of Wendouree, or the many sunsets of Mount Helen and Buninyong. And so in “How not to be seen” Ash Lieb once again looks at the little things.
“How not to be seen” can be seen at Red Brick Gallery from January 18th until the 31st, with opening celebrations at 3-5pm Saturday 19th January. Bring your friends!