The beautiful world of Max Berry will be unleashed in all of its fantastical glory next week, with the opening of his latest solo show – Which Way Home.

Having followed Maxs work for many years, I’ve always had a complete fascination with his ability to espouse uniqueness within his surrealistic and dreamily seductive paintings.

“Which Way Home” will highlight Max at a point in time where his strength of works promises to be the harbinger of a leading force in the future of Australian art. With a number of shows under his belt already, and having garnered no small amount of excitement within the art world, “Which Way Home” looks to be brilliant in both scope and execution.

“‘Which way home’ is an exhibition of new works that continue to explore a dreamlike and desolate landscape, whose inhabitants are often caught in moments of reflection and introverted retrospection. The inclusion of portraits, timber carving and ceramic sculpture demonstrate a willingness to explore new directions whilst strengthening his existing world.”

Not only is this going to be an amazing show, but it is also the release of Maxs book of his last few years of work – a short synopsis from the forward of the book below …

“The Figure and the Ground

I once lived in a terrace house in Sydney. Out the front on the letterbox was a handcrafted sticker of a smaller house, all red roofed and four walled. The sticker was made by one of my then housemates, Max Berry. Expanding out from this letterbox, one could follow a trail of similar stickers, placed on the back of street signs, fences or whatever surface came to hand, that together plotted paths taken by Max between his studio, work and home.

Across Max’s practice  – which covers paintings, sculpture, jewelry, murals and paste-ups – the home is an enduring leitmotif which is used both as a “signature” and to address underlying conceptual concerns. Rich with associations of security, comfort, the personal and familiar, in Max’s work the home is presented in relation to a larger world, whether this be the immediate environment of the street or the ficitionalised landscapes of his paintings.

His landscapes are endless horizons or alternately cast adrift aboard as floating masses. Amongst such scenes, the presence of the home acts as a reprieve to the indeterminate nature of these places. When it is not present, its absence is felt through a cast of characters – sometimes human, other times animal, and always slightly fantastical – each rendered in moments of despondency, introspection and transcendence. Ladders, doorways, boats and signposts suggest possible directions, which offer reprieve or the possibility of more hospitable, stable ground.

Throughout Max’s work, the relationship established between the figure and the ground is all-important. Like the trail of stickers that plotted Max’s own path from the front of our house throughout the surrounding suburbs, his work speaks to the way that individuals navigate our world and the importance of the places we find shelter.

Susan Gibb.”

Make sure you head down to China Heights and check out this show!!

Who: Max Berry
What: Which Way Home
Solo show
Where: China Heights Galley, 16-28 Foster street, Surry Hills, Sydney
When: Show opens Friday 19th July 2013 from 6pm til 9pm and runs until Jul 21st

Check out Max Berry as well as the China Heights gallery website for more info on the show.