Challenging audiences with humour

WHEN artist, Geoff Bonney was in the UK, he was inspired to change his creative direction.

“I’d been making sculptures out of monochrome colour, in bitumens, whites and greys. So I decided to do colour, but I didn’t know what to paint,” he said.

Starting simply, he explored the shapes of the alphabet, painting all the letters in watercolour.

“When I got back to Australia, I decided to do them big, for some stupid reason,” he laughed. “But I needed something more.”

Embracing the idea of the pangram, which is to use all letters of the alphabet in one sentence, this resulting set of large-scale works is now on show at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

“The works aren’t strictly a pangram, as I’ve used six words, very cunningly concealed. I’ve used a pangram as the vehicle for these colour letters and given them a cryptic title.

“I’ve used every letter, except the Q is standalone,” he said.

Pangrams is Bonney’s second exhibition at AGB. It’s a light-hearted, interactive one which he hopes is a “bit of a game” for brains, making people smile.

“You’ve got to work out what the work says by the title, that’s the clue. I like a bit of humour in my work, I don’t think I’m that serious.

“With art, you’ve got to engage people, and you can do it by shock, colour, pattern… I’ve engaged people here with colour first and foremost, and then with the word game,” he said.

“I want to challenge people with a bit of humour. It’s fun.”

Pangrams will close Sunday, 15 March.

Bonney’s Pearl dog sculpture, made of plastic and steel, can also be viewed at the back of the gallery in Dark Horse: Wild beasts and curious creatures, until Sunday, 23 February.