Thermometer

BACKGROUND There has been a considerable resurgence of exhibitions and critical discourse on surrealism in recent years such as Drawing Surrealism, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2012 and Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams, Brisbane GOMA 2012 (from the Pompidou Centre). This exhibition of Peter Ellis's Drawings was the first major survey of his work, which has a key focus on the strong legacy of Dada and Surrealism and the utilisation of imagery from the natural world. This exhibition includes the recent series of large works on boards, a selection of drawings also a wide range of sketchbooks and artist books which were very inspiring. I really like his use of mix media in all his pieces. He uses gouache, ink, gold leaf for example on different paper types. He uses landscape, placing a figure or item within the scape in a juxtaposed position. CONTRIBUTION Ellis has produced surrealist imagery for more than 40 years and this recognition celebrates his research contribution to contemporary surrealist art. As an example, Thermometer demonstrates the potential of image association, in particular irrational and dream-like imagery. The legacy of Surrealism is evident its exploration of elements of chance, science, ephemera, children's art, detective novels, and esoteric and populist literature within a personal and contemporary context while extending the idea of the book. SIGNIFICANCE A catalogue (with essay by Dr Peter Hill) says, 'Ellis has created a wonderful link between the outer reaches of the animal kingdom, literary fiction, and the foibles of the human condition.' The exhibition was covered in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, 'It's an enormous show of complicated and charming visual essays, all pieced together in drawing of one kind or another.'