Treasure Island - Darren Sylvester

14 May 2021 - 31 October 2021

Darren Sylvester
Stacey 2018
240 × 320cm, lightjet print
Courtesy the artist, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Neon Parc, Melbourne

Darren Sylvester’s multi-disciplinary practice involves photography, sculpture, video and pop music.

Each work is the result of a long, detailed process of research and planning, often involving a wide range of pop culture moments and artefacts, designed to investigate the language between perceived high and low culture, the nature of authenticity, desirability and mortality.

Each photograph is the result of detailed research and planning to then become a hand-built set of props in studio that are then photographed with large-format film, creating a hyper-real saturated effect that is direct and to the point, however with inherent levels of great detail and complexity.

For example, the work Stacey re-imagines a character from an unknown American science-fiction film, with the suit purchased by Sylvester at a Hollywood auction house. The only clue to the character was the name ‘Stacey’ inscribed inside, here the character and location is re-imagined and Stacey is brought back to life.

Treasure Island alludes to the Disney-fied trope of fortunes and mysteries in undiscovered spaces, a theme not dissimilar to the worlds created within Sylvester's exciting images.

Watch artist Darren Sylvester as he speaks with curator and writer Kelly Gellatly about his practice and the exhibition