Every so often, two artists whose oeuvres complement each other beautifully manage to share the same room. Or, in the case of Outré’s latest exhibition, two and a half artists. In a way.
One of the artists is Melbourne-based Creature Creature, the working moniker of the artistic partnership between Chanel Tang and Ambrose Rehorek. Their art may well be familiar to you – they have created a number of highly recognisable pieces of street art in the CBD and murals in the inner suburbs. Their art is a blend of Eastern and Western, albeit more predominantly Eastern. For instance, the motifs of yin and yang, images of Japanese chrysanthemums and the duo’s signature, in the form of a Chinese character rubber stamp.
According to the artist’s statement, the East and West influences bring ‘contrast and fluidity’ to the works, while the concept of yin and yang highlight ‘messages of togetherness [and] states of balance’. This fluidity is certainly evident in all their work, as there’s almost a total absence of straight lines, including the frames of the three central pieces themselves – their very frames are ‘steam bent huon pine’, making their shapes totally unique and very much matching the flowing, subconscious atmosphere of the situation and characters within the artworks.
Creature Creature like to mix up and re-interpret their cultural motifs, such as the invented character’s heads in Nashi, analogous to another Asian-Melbourne artist, Sooj Mitton, who is of Korean heritage but her art features a menagerie of invented creatures.
In addition to Creature Creature’s paintings, ranging considerably in size and price, there are a handful of small wooden sculptures, a new medium for the artistic duo. The trio of Fish, Bird and Rabbit are a good introductions to the artists’ new wooden works, all of which follow the mythical, fluid and dream-like characters of their two-dimensional counterparts.
The rear of the room is taken up by the works of Japan-based Masakatsu Sashie and his exhibition Symbols. His paintings are a science fiction-inspired contemplation on the nature of symbols and everyday iconography such as corporate logos, neon lights and other elemnts of contemporary cities. Most of his pieces feature a giant floating orb, some during the day, some at night, comprised of pieces of the aforementioned landscape – logos, symbols, hunks of machinery and neon characters and symbols. Some are recognisable, such as doors, windows, vending machines, pavements and air conditioning units, others are just blended into the whole.
The nighttime pieces depicted have a decidedly Blade Runner feel to them, those set during the day feel more along the lines of the ‘used universe’ feel of the original 1977 film Star Wars, 2008’s WALL-E, or even Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 Howl’s Moving Castle. The orbs are floating in very different environments, for instance in Symbol (通), it floats over a burned industrial wasteland, a city visible in the far distance; in others, such as Kitchen, it seems to be in the aisles of an office.
With these artworks, Sashie invites you to ‘reconsider the influence of urban symbols’ and to reflect on your ‘own relationship with the structures that define our world’. While doing so, he has created a series of images that have elements of science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk and social commentary, combining them to create something individual and unique.
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To see the works of both Creature Creature and Sashie, one can view the exhibition catalogue online.
Outré Gallery is, of course, also an art shop, with a permanent collection of art, books, badges and magazines, so remember to check out the works on offer – for instance by the fiercely idiosyncratic Lovesoup and the exquisitely intricate, mythical worlds of Alfred Liu.
Masakatsu Sashie: Symbol and Creature Creature: Auspicious Delicious will be exhibited at Outré Gallery until 15 June 2025.
