Artist Profile – August 2019

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s an academic discipline, the history of art is

predominantly taught through the medium of

painting. Specifically, it is the development of figurative

and representational painting which forms a fundamental

part of Western art historical pedagogy. To teach the work of

Michelangelo or Manet (one would argue) is to ensure that

students understand the social and political value painting

once gave to the Western world as its dominant mode of visual

expression. The broader rationale, of course, is for students to

sharpen skills in visual analysis through discerning the work

of artists now deemed as masters.

Yet, beyond the confines of institutionalised learning, figurative

painting has for centuries beguiled the imaginations of many

others. It is not a stretch to say that the ability of painters to

transform canvases into recognisable scenes is a talent that many

still hold in high regard. The appeal of this kind of painting perhaps

lies in its ability for those with or without a formal art education to

approach, point and enter a frame to say, ‘I know what this is’.

Tom Polo’s paintings conjure within us a similar desire to

approach, point and identify. His larger works on canvas present

twirling lines which silhouette shapes that sail off in many

directions. Figures seem to hide behind watery pools of pink or are

completely lost amongst rich swathes of electric blue. He lures us

in with a foot here or a face there, but as our eyes adjust there is no

clean separation between where bodies begin and end.

Polo is well aware of how our eyes are trained and inclined to

see. And, while conventional painting has always ensured to lay

bare its subject matter, Polo makes us work to understand the

canvases he paints. From his paintings curated into the recently

concluded ‘The National: New Australian Art’ at The Art Gallery

of New South Wales, to those in his April 2019 solo show at Roslyn

Oxley9, each presentation feels like a rigorous examination that

tests our abilities to see.

When I visit Polo’s studio at Parramatta Artists’ Studios in

Rydalmere, I am greeted by a mound of black cinefoil masks, a

narrow bench strewn with an assortment of brushes and pigments,

and two fluorescent paintings which flank the left and right walls.

Between the masks and the bench is a semi-defined path which

leads to Polo’s desk at the far end of the studio. I’m a few steps

behind as he navigates the trail with ease, but it’s a challenge to

dodge the stray masks and protruding paintbrushes, trying not

to damage anything while also fixated on the fluorescent yellow

painting which leans casually against a wall.