HA: Howard Arkley

About the exhibition
This exhibition surveyed the career of Howard Arkley, widely recognised as the leading painter of Australian suburbia, whose distinctive visual language incorporates optically dynamic patterns and depictions of houses and furniture. The exhibition brought together over eighty artworks spanning from 1972 to 1991—from early surrealist works on paper to key examples that reflected Arkely’s still-developing suburban theme.

Alongside paintings, mixed media collage and works on paper, the exhibition also included more personal and process-based artefacts—namely, nine Polaroids showcasing a selection from the artist’s toy collection, source photographs for a series of paintings of suburban houses  and a collaborative work with fellow Melbourne-based artist John Nixon (Table Lamp, 1980–81).

The exhibition catalogue, whose cover design incorporates a variation of Arkley’s trademark Zappo Head, included an essay by Australian painter Tony Clark discussing Arkley’s work through the lens of the gothic.

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^{Image: Catalogue cover featuring Howard Arkley’s Zappo mask design c. 1991}