John Spiteri

John Spiteri (b.1967, Sydney) has been making paintings, sculptures and videos since the early 1990s. Traversing the distances (great or small) between figuration and abstraction, his practice has seen a gradual shift towards non-representational painting on canvas, linen and glass. Recently, these abstract terrains have been populated by vague figures. Implementing a full index of painterly gestures, and utilising a range of tools and processes, Spiteri’s work is an ongoing, personal experiment that unpacks the many possibilities of painting production. Spiteri’s compulsive and inventive mark-making aims to preserve the uncertainty of material outcomes, which act unpredictably in his highly idiosyncratic compositions. The tentative quality of Spiteri’s paintings activates a deep sense of discovery. The surface—layered, stripped and embellished—acquires meaning in a similarly progressive manner. Ambiguous compositions and their fictional titles revel in the slipperiness of reality.

John Spiteri completed a Master of Fine Arts at UNSW College of Fine Arts in 2001 and studied at Goldsmiths College, London in 1996 and 2002. Recent notable exhibitions include Painting. More painting (2017), Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; Learning to Leave (2014), VCA Gallery, Melbourne; There’s no Time (2011), The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne; Negotiating this world (2013), The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Daydream Believers (2012), Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Spiteri's work has also been included in the Liverpool and Gwangju biennials. His work is held in major public and private collections including the National Gallery of Victory (NGV), Melbourne; the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney; and Monash University Gallery, Melbourne.