PARKER Contemporary presents Distorted Image, a new body of work by Brisbane artist Matthew Newkirk examining the power of visual imagery in contemporary society and its role in shaping how we understand news, commerce and social relations.
Working with the visual languages and signifiers that circulate through everyday media, Newkirk explores the ways images mediate information and influence perception. Referencing the functional logic of Brisbane’s street signage as a system of public communication, the works engage with the history of signage in contemporary art while establishing a distinctly local and contemporary perspective.
Through an ongoing investigation into mainstream media and communication systems, Distorted Image considers how meaning is constructed, disrupted and distorted. The exhibition invites reflection on the ways power operates through familiar visual formats and emerging technologies, and how images are produced and consumed today.
Matthew Newkirk is a PhD graduate of the Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University.
