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Born Sydney, Australia After leaving art school, John’s extraordinary talents were recognized immediately. Early in his career his first oil painting Circular Quay (circa 1986) sold for $15,000 to an American buyer in Connecticut. These early works were technically superb, faultless and executed like an old master. Painting in the vein of Joseph Frost (considered one of the Australia’s best realist painters), a friend and mentor, Scott’s early works left the studio faster than he could produce. Scott claims “one cannot climb Everest without setting foot on the slopes first. Realism was important for me as a strong grounding in external observation, application and skill.” If an artist cannot at least draw with plausibility then the recognition of an object will fail. Scott navigates portraiture, landscape and still life with the greatest of ease. That was many years ago now and the artist’s work has deepened immensely in the last two decades. In recent years Scott has taken on some heady subject matter, his technical skill already a given, he has become an unparalleled virtuoso of any subject he chooses. Lately his focus has been vast and hard to define intellectually as it is so broad in concept. Philosophy, allegorical symbolism, archetypal imagery coupled within a framework of mythology; not just any mythology, Scott merges multiple mythologies implying that on a symbolic level they are similar if not the same, Hindu, Judeo-Christian, and Egyptian symbols act as archetypes within the human mind construct. These symbols guide us to our respective myths that tell similar stories of redemption and salvation through purification. Death, purification and regeneration are common themes observed within the whole cosmic perspective; humans are a small part of this picture. Anthropocentric ideals try to dominate cosmic truths, ending inevitably in failure. He states “that problems are cyclical and not given to any particular time frame as they resurface again in different ways”. His multi-layered approach doesn’t end there though; Scott also uses his poetry to semantically bind the whole package like a veritable alchemist. His works are like prophetic journeys into the psyche, warning us gently of the folly of humans trying to control not only each other, but the environment as well. Scott states, “We need the environment for survival, it’s scaringly simple”. Scott is definitely a visionary, so desperately needed in today’s world, coupled with immense talent this is an artist who has transformed himself from lead to Gold. Spatial representation is balanced perfectly within six dimensions overlapping holographic realities like dreams only seen by a rare handful of visionaries. His application of media into a symbolic framework is perfect and unparalleled. He’s not afraid to experiment and play with multi-media, turning experiments into successes. It’s scary but exciting creating dichotomies that work every time. Scott is way beyond process, or art for art’s sake, as his works trigger a primordial dialogue and knowing deep within the viewer, if one cares to enquire. This artist is working on a platform unseen in the contemporary art world to date. A perfect merge between chaos and order. Scott veers away from
philosophical views that negate causality, interconnectedness leading
to love. It’s all about love, love of the world, love of self, love
for others. SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
COLLECTIONS:
OTHER: 1986 to
2003 - in retreat travelling & working on major series |
