During his undergraduate study, Gerwyn Davies’ practice of costume-making and photography merged into the imaging of surreal characters. His mature practice sees Davies construct a mis en scene which becomes the backdrop for a single elaborate, exaggerated, over-the-top character, such as a human-sized lobster, with Davies’ own tattooed legs and Doc Martens footwear visible below the costume, looking at the Big Prawn (in his series Subtropics). The person in the costume is always Davies himself, and these garments, made from utilitarian products, brightly coloured, are piled on his body like uncomfortable, claustrophobic “clothes”. His body is the platform for the characters with whom he is intrinsically involved.
The scenarios depicted may be nightmarish, as in A Million Bucks where our character lies on a sun lounge, swathed in a checked tube with head covered in white fur and large bunny ears, while (plastic) sea gulls descend on chips covered in tomato sauce beside the lounge. As images they draw a laugh, particularly when Davies’ legs emerge from the carapace of yet another garish and extravagant costume, but at the same time they present situations we would want to close down – fast. “I am really drawn to the low brow”, he admits.
In 2023 Davies won both the Olive Cotton Award and the Clayton Utz Art Award. He has been a regular finalist in other significant national art prizes including the National Photographic Portrait Prize (2023), the Brisbane Portrait Prize (2023), The Bowness Photography Prize (2023, 2019, 2017) and the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Prize (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014).
Recent career highlights include major solo exhibitions ‘Glisten’ (2024) at South East Centre for Contemporary Art (SECCA), ‘Iridescent’ (2022) at the Museum of Sydney, and ‘Plush’ (2021) at UNSW Galleries, Sydney. In 2018, he held a solo exhibition at Sydney’s Australian Centre for Photography and he was selected for the inaugural Biennale of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
Davies is currently an academic staff member (Photography) at the University of NSW (formerly COFA) and the National Art School, Sydney. His work is held in public collections including the Museum of Brisbane, the Museum of Sydney, Gold Coast City Gallery/HOTA, Redlands Art Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery, Artbank and the Queensland Centre for Photography.
Download CV