In Manual Handling, Brisbane-based artist Simon Degroot reconsiders the sanctity of art history. Rather than treating canonical paintings as untouchable artefacts, Degroot approaches them as surfaces to claim, disrupt, and reimagine.
Referencing artists such as Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, Henri Matisse, Jean (Hans) Arp, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Josef Albers, and John Coburn, Degroot engages directly with modernist abstraction to explore what happens when revered forms are physically handled, copied, and transformed.
Through a process grounded in somatic knowledge—learning through the body and gesture—Degroot reinterprets the tradition of copying as a form of critique rather than reverence. His tactile reworkings, often marked by mess, accident, and decoration, question ideas of purity, permanence, and authorship.
By “handling” the masters, Degroot transforms art history from a static archive into an active dialogue, where copying becomes rebellion and homage intertwines with critique. The result is a vibrant conversation between past and present, precision and imperfection, reverence and play.
Closing Event: Saturday 18 October, 2–4pm
Image: Orange White after Ellsworth Kelly, 2025, oil on aluminium panel, 37 x 26.5cm, framed 97 x 78cm
