John Barleycorn - S Bruneder
Stefan Bruneder is Austrian and has been living with his German wife in Norwood for the past four years. His ‘Greatest Hits’ paintings on show at the Gallery on Waymouth are of two kinds. First, solo motifs, applied to a monochromatic background, of such things as spacemen and taxis. Then there are his more complex and larger works that carry many figures, the largest of which, John Barleycom, has a whole crowd involved.
Many of these will remind you of Mad Max cartoons or Where’s Wally puzzles, full of life, depicting peaceful co-existence of many but also with a flavour of popular culture; clustering together all kinds of heroes, villains and artists of various types.
While many works of this genre often resort to cliché, showing you things you would be expected to instantly recognise or heavy on political themes, Bruneder takes us elsewhere, letting us loose on a puzzle solving mission to recognise the faces and symbols and humour (and the associations that link them all together) that this obviously well read and interesting painter has collected in his files of images.
But what makes some of these works even more interesting is many (such as the aforementioned John Barleycom but also Jolly and the Wicker Man and Norwood Mystery) depict Stefan’s views on the uniqueness of Australia Day, as seen by a relative outsider. In particular the ways in which peoples of all backgrounds come together for marches, fully respectful of their heritage but in full recognition of their new homeland, and how they intermingle with longer term locals, happy to wave their flags and wear the emblems of this country, at the beach, on the streets and at the cricket in a day of celebration.
It is this great potpourri of ideas, icons and internationalism that make Bruneder’s works so interesting, joyful and uplifting, a more than pleasant contrast to so many who like to use Australia Day and its symbols as reasons to express their angst.
Happiness, life and celebration can come in many forms but Stefan Bruneder makes a useful contribution to the Australian collection.
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