Neon Parc

In “Atelier Spiteri”, 2022, figurative elements begin to slink onto the canvas. The long-limbed stencil figure is taken from an earlier painting of Spiteri’s, reinforcing the body of work as iterative and self-reflexive. This motif is repeated throughout the large-scale canvas – the nymph-like body returning in different scales, orientations, but always painted with a lightness of touch. The shock of a single-file row of vomit emoji’s lays in wait, lining the canvas’ edge, mocking the subjects woven into the painterly layers of the composition and creating a witty remark on Taste.

Spiteri’s titles often grow out of overheard phrases or aphorisms which enter the vernacular for a certain period until they go out of vogue. “Broken Bongo” conjures the disjointed rhythm of an instrument in need of repair, like a sad clown. “House Husband”, “Feast & Famine”, and “Chain Smoker” are titles which ground the paintings in the real world. Spiteri humorously encourages the titles to reflect how painting is so often a conduit for humanity.

John Spiteri (b.1967, Sydney) has been making paintings, sculptures and videos since the early 1990s. Traversing the distances (great or small) between figuration and abstraction, his practice has seen a gradual shift towards non-representational painting on canvas, linen and glass. Recently, these abstract terrains have been populated by vague figures. Implementing a full index of painterly gestures, and utilising a range of tools and processes, Spiteri’s work is an ongoing, personal experiment that unpacks the many possibilities of painting production.

Spiteri’s compulsive and inventive mark-making aims to preserve the uncertainty of material outcomes, which act unpredictably in his highly idiosyncratic compositions. The tentative quality of Spiteri’s paintings activates a deep sense of discovery. The surface—layered, stripped and embellished—acquires meaning in a similarly progressive manner. Ambiguous compositions and their fictional titles revel in the slipperiness of reality.