A Long Obedience is a new body of paintings by Australian artist Adam Lee, and the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The works draw their imagery from an eclectic mix of historical and contemporary references, ranging from photographs found in early National Geographics, the mystical histories of monastic traditions, to the poetic writings of Cormac McCarthy and John Steinbeck. The exhibition title references Friedrich Nietzsche’s assertion that “the essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction…” . It also draws upon clergyman Eugene Peterson’s study of the ancient Jewish pilgrim songs and points toward the passage of time associated with spiritual pilgrimage, human migration through various histories, and the daily activity of studio practice.
IMAGE CREDIT: Adam Lee, “A Long Obedience” (exhibition view), 2015, BEERS London.
