Sydney silk screen artist.

Peter Bainbridge
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read

I’m a Sydney based silk screen artist. The lastest incarnation is silk screened oil backgrounds with forgrounds of hand inlaid 24ct gold and or silver leaf printed on handmade French cotton paper. 320gsm. I like to keep things as simple as possible, the challenge, less is more. The thought behind the work is a poetic whimsy. https://www.peter-bainbridge-artist.com Materials used primarily Adobe Illustrator to start, then i work with the best printer and paper available. I’ve used Canson papers only. (French. 320gsm. They’ve been making paper since 1570). And only oil based inks, Then lots of colour tests with the printer, that hue is crucial. Get the colour wrong and its all over.! Materials used like the French paper need to be expressed in full colour and underlined as mush as possible. It says to the buyer, you are buying the real deal, it says come into my room and I’ll show how much i care. My framer is the coolest guy. His name is Tom. I still don’t know his surname. and its been 4 years. (Erskinville frames Sydney)

What drives me is poverty really. I keep thinking, i gotta draw my way outta here. Seriously though, I have an incurable itch to draw, always have, There’s nothing quite like making a great set of lines click. Great art does something to the soul, it possesses the viewer when you get it right. Its like a prize wheel at the fair, where you think if i watch long enough i’ll win a prize, or maybe some of the fire might rub off. I watch people at galleries, most just walk by the work, some actually get it, most i fear are consumed with their short attention spans and electronic devices. Moby & The Void Pacific Choir — Are You Lost In The World Like Me (Official Video) — YouTube

There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty. But today, its all so antibacterial, washing off reality through fear of contamination.? I know this sounds irredeemably dark etc. But when i left the suburbs i ended up at St Kilda’s Crystal Ballroom managing bands, on a daily basis watching live acts like the Gang of four. It was blood curdling, and you felt truely alive, a great piece of art has a similar presence. Gang of Four — Damaged Goods — YouTube This is achingly cool as well. New Order — Crystal [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] — YouTube And this. A Melbourne band. The Morning After Girls -The General Public — YouTube Its all about taste. An Education Movie Dance Scene — YouTube

In my early childhood I could have ended up completely at odds with the road i took. I hung around with some very spurious types. Then one day i heard Lou Reed’s Transformer album. It spoke to me, it said leave the suburbs, there’s a better world out there, its waiting for you. Music was a huge leveller and teacher, it was my divining rod, much like painting. It spoke the truth. The album covers like sign posts. Where everything else seemed a lie. The whole world for the most part is based on fiction.

Art in Australia puts double the bums on seats than does sport, but the art conversation is like waiting for Godot. It truly pisses me off. Australians see ‘The Print’ as somehow an inferior product. Brett Whitely thought they should be deemed at best like bus tickets. Strange really, even artists display ignorance on the print. Politics is a favourite pastime. The conservatives actually get off getting it wrong on a daily basis. Charlatans of the first order, they loath facts.

I’ve always liked putting marks on paper, its a primitive function, its like a religion, when i walk past fresh concrete and see some kid having made his make in the sand as it were, it says, I was here, don’t forget me, i exist. Its urban cave painting. Look at Banksy, spray can religion of protest, same thing. Most galleries send me to sleep. almost every time i force myself inside the church i get bored pretty quickly. You head straight for the holy water then leave. The NSW art gallery for the most part is like ‘bed time for ratty’. Ocassionally they have a great show, but its few and far between. The last great show they had was Warhol Adman. Brilliant.

In the early days i would hang out with the ROAR guys. Melbourne artist collective (1981–5) David Larwill their main protagonist, it was party time. killer music, loads of smoke and holy water, it was like going to an Iggy Pop gig. A mad house, today its all straight lines and buttoned up beige chardonnay. An opening should be something to remember not something to forget by luchtime the following day. Nuff said. Hope this gets me under your skin.……Cheers…..Bainbridge

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