Darren Munce offers up an ambiguous surface, the result of erasure, adjustment and slippage. Optical effects disintegrate with emergent geometries that scumble to grey. Skilled paint application is shifted through the squeegee scrape, an orbital sander or a rip of tape. With a background in signwriting and graphics, the artist can be very technical but this methodical work is upended through an impulsive counterplay. Works are rested and then returned to, carrying the weight of time. The paintings end substantially with accretions of oil along the edges, their corners softened by wear.
In one work, a seductive geometry of cubes sits atop a dense texture rendered through chance. In another, a deeply scoured surface is punctuated by a matrix of sharp linework that continues to respond to the undulations beneath. A lattice weaves over and under while carving new shapes and casting shadows. Loose grids and a range of greys mediate striking colour, making it feel right for rich magenta to sit with scarlet and deep cadmium yellow. Lines of lemon and zinc white pierce through as traces of a pattern language that has been pushed back.
An art residency in Leipzig (supported by the Australia Council and Creative Victoria) gave early context to Darren Munce’s interest in the divergent histories of abstraction. Geometry and chance, exactness and imprecision – his work demonstrates how these dualities find their real definition on the painted surface. By negotiating conflicting tendencies, he locates a zone where abstract invention can emerge.
- Melody Willis
