Jan Murphy Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of David Band’s work that highlights his ever-changing approach to abstraction – celebrating a lifetime’s work in ‘Lines, shapes and colours’. Surveying works spanning from 1998 to 2010, these paintings and works on paper showcase the impact of Band’s artistic legacy.

Drawing inspiration from nature, Band was constantly striving for simplicity in his work. With confidence and curiosity, he reduced the essence of a flower in bloom to a single line. Whether working in charcoal, ink, oil or acrylic, he dedicated several exhibitions to the exploration of these lines – curving, bending, folding, twisting, overlapping – always endeavouring to capture beauty in pure, abstract reduction.

The earliest pieces in this exhibition are from a series of ‘Aspar’ works that represent Band’s exploration of the process of mono-printing. Aspar is old-Scottish dialect for spread and alludes to Band’s application of paint. His spontaneous and experimental approach of squeezing a vibrant and changing palette between the rollers of the printing press, resolved into flattened shapes that float on fields of colour, or a series of cross-hatched lines hinting at the tartan of Band’s Scottish heritage.

Band loved colour and was never afraid to experiment with unexpected combinations. His later-career works employ large sections of block-colour, interacting and vibrating on the surface, often revealing hints of contrasting colour beneath. Throughout his career Band vigorously challenged medium and process; the resulting works simultaneously define an important period of time, and offer a breath of fresh air.

The late David Band (1959 – 2011) was born in Glasgow, Scotland and studied at the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London prior to relocating to Melbourne in 1986. He exhibited extensively in Australia and abroad and his artworks are held in numerous private and public collections, nationally and internationally, including the National Gallery of Australia, The Art Institute of Chicago, Artbank, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

We would like to thank Fiona Mahon for her assistance with this exhibition.

Image credit: Image credit: David Band, Across the rooftops (no. 18), 1998, oil based ink on paper on canvas, 67.0 x 56.0 cm (detail)