Exhibitions Michael Simms Distance - Online Exhibition 26th October 2021 - 13th November 2021

Michael Simms' online solo exhibition showcases a new series of intimately scaled landscape paintings created during the artist's recent travels to the Broken Hill region. As a site that holds personal significance for him, the resulting artworks reflect both a sense of hereditary exploration and a subjective appreciation of the areas unique topography. Within his superbly crafted distillations of the regions haunting and cinematic vastness, Simms skillfully captures the essence of a fleeting moment. Sensitively observing the dramatic quality of light so unique to the Australian outback, these images are also infused with a psychological charge, blurring of the boundaries between reality and the dreamlike.

ARTIST STATEMENT
‘Distance’ is a new series inspired by my residency in Broken Hill earlier this year. The works are a response to the haunting beauty of this unique part of Australia, as well as an introspective exploration of identity.

With its rich indigenous history and complicated mining past, Broken Hill and its surroundings have long held a deep fascination for artists. The diverse natural splendour contrasts against the industrial mining infrastructure in a captivating way – and empty buildings create an overwhelming sense of bygone days that spark the imagination.

The region also holds great personal significance – my grandparents began their life together in Wilcannia, and my mother was born and raised in Broken Hill so I had frequent visits throughout my formative years to spend time with relatives. The open skies and distinctive red earth always inspired me as a child – and given its position as a mecca for artists over the years, it was also my first exposure to painting.

As more and more family members moved to bigger cities, or passed on, my trips to Broken Hill became less frequent. It had been almost 10 years since my last visit, but throughout 2020 I had a powerful yearning to go back – perhaps a response to the restricted movements and existential questions posed by the pandemic. In April this year I decided to rent an old shop that had been converted into a studio space by the Broken Hill Art Exchange (which, as a bizarre twist of fate, shared a wall with the hairdressing salon my mother ran 50 years ago).

I felt a powerful wave of both adrenaline and nostalgia wash over me during my time in Broken Hill. Excitement was tinged with poignancy as I reflected on the past, and it was this complex interplay of emotions that was the catalyst for these works. Each piece in ‘Distance’ holds a distinct memory – painted from an emotional reaction to the environment in the present, but also coloured by my memories and the passage of time. The experience has been both profound and creatively fulfilling.

ARTIST PROFILE
Michael Simms is a Sydney based figurative painter who holds a Diploma of Fine Arts from the Julian Ashton Art School. In 2019 Simms was awarded a residency at the New York Academy of Art in Tribeca, Manhattan and in 2018 was the winner of both the Art Society of NSW Young Artist Prize and the SBS Portrait Prize. He has been a finalist many art prizes including in the Manning Naked and Nude Art Prize (2021), the Lethbridge Art Award (2021, 2019), the SBS Portrait Prize (2021, 2020), the Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize (2020), the Percival Portrait Prize (2020), the Sunshine Coast Art Prize (2020) and the Lester Prize (2020) to name just a few. In 2017 he was also a finalist in the prestigious Doug Moran Portrait Prize.
His work is held in numerous private collections including the Elliott Eyes Collection, the Thomas Keneally Centre at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, Cliftons Venues, Sydney and YSC Consulting, Sydney.

MICHAEL SIMMS PROFILE
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Michael Simms
Umberumberka Reservoir 2 2021
oil on canvas
76cm x 91cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Umberumberka Creek 2021
oil on canvas
61cm x 46cm

Michael Simms
Umberumberka 2021
oil on board
46cm x 51cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Sunset Strip 2021
oil on canvas
41cm x 51cm

Michael Simms
Silverton Road 2021
oil on canvas
36cm x 61cm

Michael Simms
Mundi Mundi Plains 2021
oil on panel
30cm x 60cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Mindioomballa Creek 2021
oil on canvas
46cm x 36cm

Michael Simms
Umberumberka Reservoir 2021
oil on canvas
51cm x 51cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Lake Menindee 2021
oil on canvas
46cm x 31cm

Michael Simms
Distant Light 2021
oil on canvas
31cm x 36cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Lake Pamamaroo 2021
oil on canvas
41cm x 41cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Menindee Road Sunrise 2021
oil on canvas
31cm x 23cm

Michael Simms
Line of Lode 2021
oil on board, framed
18cm x 24cm

Michael Simms
Sunrise on Holten Drive 2021
oil on canvas
13cm x 18cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Mundi Mundi Sunset 2021
oil on board
13cm x 18cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Mundi Mundi Lookout (Study) 2021
oil on canvas
13cm x 18cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Barrier Highway 2021
oil on board
18cm x 13cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Umberumberka Creek 2 (Study) 2021
oil on board, framed
13cm x 13cm

Michael Simms
Umberumberka Creek (Study) 2021
oil on board
13cm x 13cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Thorndale Station 2021
oil on board
13cm x 13cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Cusp 2021
oil on board
13cm x 13cm

Michael Simms
Block 10 Lookout 2021
oil on board
13cm x 13cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO

Michael Simms
Living Desert State Park 2021
oil on board
10cm x 15cm
IN ARTIST'S STUDIO