Giles Alexander

Bruno's Dream

13 February — 14 April 2014

Born 1975, UK
Lives and works in Sydney

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In the 16th century, Giordano Bruno, a Dominican Friar, posited that the Sun was just one of an infinite number of stars in the Universe orbited by inhabited planets. This is one of many narrative threads that comprise Western understanding of our place in the universe, our sense of purpose and belonging. Bruno’s challenge to the biblical geocentric perspective caused scientific and religious threads to collide, and resulted in him being found guilty of heresy and burned at the stake. 

In Bruno's Dream I explore the representation of these existential ideas and the sublime imagery of faith and reason through the use of both cultural and scientific icons. Religion and science have profoundly shaped art and architecture, while at the same time, their narratives have evolved through their visual realisation. Architecture has been a particularly effective means of communicating wonder, an awesome tool of propaganda used to symbolise earthly as well as heavenly power. There is a rational truth about the geometry of the Universe, as well as a spiritual dimension to it, exploited by artists and builders of great buildings. Bruno recognised the magic of form, and wrote extensively on the role of geometry and spatial forms in language. Within these works, artefacts and architecture are located amid constellations that are drawn with a geometry reminiscent both of astrology and astronomy—setting up a dialogue between the heart and the mind.

 Telescopes emerged in the Renaissance, and with them came the beginning of the visual technologies of illusion that continue to shape the evolution of the visual arts today. As such, they represent both temples to science and tools for reproduction. New technologies for representation have brought a new view of the world and are currently changing how much of the Universe we can see. What is increasingly clear is the strangeness of the Universe. My work addresses the relationship between object and image—while, at the same time, I am intrigued by what cannot be seen or can only be seen with the help of technology. I have explored these ideas through colour and the spatial conundrums that reflective surfaces create. Boundaries between abstraction and realism are hence challenged, while the act of viewing through reflective surfaces itself affects the subject: the observer effect.

 

Giles Alexander

\ Exhibition featured works

Giles Alexander

Chakra (Dark) Energy

2013 \ Oil, ink and resin on aluminium \ 105x65cm

Giles Alexander

Fabric I

2013 \ Digital print

Giles Alexander

Feudalism

2012 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 150x93

Giles Alexander

Globalism

2012 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 105x65cm

Giles Alexander

Home? #10

2013 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 150x93cm

SOLD

Giles Alexander

Home? #11

2013 \ Oil and resin on aluminium \ 180x111cm

Giles Alexander

Homeless? #07

2011 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 105x65cm

Giles Alexander

Landscape Painting #02

2011 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 105x65

Giles Alexander

Nationalism

2012 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 150x93cm

SOLD

Giles Alexander

Our Father is a Red Giant

2012 \ Oil, ink and resin on aluminium \ 2013x239cm

Giles Alexander

Portrait Painting #01

2011 \ Oil and resin on polyester \ 105x65cm

Giles Alexander

Willendorf Wavefunction Collapse

2013 \ Oil, ink and resin on aluminium \ 105x65cm

\ Other exhibitions

Hubert Pareroultja

"When the rain tumbles down in july"

21 March — 6 April 2024

PEOPLE,

Group Exhibition

29 February — 16 March 2024

Jonathan Dalton

MELBOURNE ART FAIR

22 February — 25 February 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about Bruno's Dream.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.30pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)