Josh Simpson

Idyll

Idyll examines the unobtainable nature of the exotic in the western canon. Through the repeated use of extravagant visual clichés Idyll asks the question, can something be exotic and real at the same time? In the work, motifs are seen through a filter. Echoed across the canvas objects are fetishised, dragged and layered. The heightened hue and glitchy rendering emulate a digital aesthetic referencing the screen and technology as an artifice to a seductive realm. Idyll suspends the mystery of the exotic; strange, compelling yet unobtainable.

Simpson holds a BFA (Honours) with the University of Tasmanian where he is a current MFA (Research) candidate. In 2017 he was a resident artist for The Hound in The Hunt Exhibition at MONA and is a recent finalist in the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award.