The Thousands

Unless you know their tastes, recommending artists or artworks to people is always a gamble. Individual taste arbitrates with a heavy hand. To some, Basquiat was a genius; to others, merely a bad drawer. With this caveat in mind, those with even a slight interest in photography and/or general cleverness should direct themselves towards Simryn Gill’s FOREST 1996-98, tucked up the back of AGNSW’s Contemporary Galleries. It would be prosaic to attempt an explanation, although we will briefly get all John McDonald and throw out there ‘juxtaposition’, ‘ekphrasis’ and other concepts of representation that could be discussed at the pub afterwards. The main thing is to look closely.

**This probably isn’t the work that changes your life. It’s not your first Klimt. This is one of those humble works that provides the sweet affirmation that there are still creative people making beautiful things.