Confession: there are times when I am bored by art. Not often, but Mr. Forager will testify that it’s pretty obvious when I’m not crazy about the work I’m looking at.. my eyes just kinda glaze over or even worse still, I take one glance, shrug my shoulders and walk on in hopes of finding something more interesting. But the work of today’s artist? Nu uh. I couldn’t stop looking and agonized over which work to include for you. Yep, Brisbane artist Simon DeGroot knows how to capture my attention.
First, there are these wonderfully absurd collages, filled with seemingly incongruous imagery like traditional Dutch still lifes, toy trucks, shelter magazine shots and of course.. Big Bird. How do they all fit together? Is it really necessary that they do? DeGroot makes the compositions work using color, form and line, keeping our eye moving. Keeping us guessing.
Then there are the more purely abstract works– studies in vivid, expressive color against the pale or the black of an abyss. Simple lines and shapes put together in that wonderfully it-seems-random-but-it-works-so-well-it-can’t-possibly-be. Splashes of color and looping lines. Perhaps more free than their collaged counterparts, but the compositions remain as grounded and sure as any classical still life.
There is much more abstraction and absurdity on Simon DeGroot’s website. Pixelated floral still lifes? Wrapping paper collages? He’s got ’em. Be sure to check them out.
All images are via the artist’s website.