IS the carefree Australian summer a thing of the past?
Have shark attacks, bushfires and the ever-present mobile phone sullied the never-ending blue skies and made it harder for people to relax on the beach and forget about it all?
Frans Bisschops’ new exhibition Leisure captures this underlying tension perfectly, mixing colourful pop art with dark unsettling themes.
• Artist Frans Bisschops with paintings from his new exhibition Leisure.
In his paintings, Perth’s obsession with exercise and fitness is contrasted with images of sharks, faces with no eyes, and the loneliness of living in one of the most isolated capital cities in the world.
“Perth definitely is known for the wealth and the leisure lifestyle, but the times are pretty heavy,” Bisschops says.
“Trying to relax with all that is happening in the world is hard work for everyone these days, even in summery old Perth.
“I think there is a nostalgia too for simpler times and a fear of the future. It’s not easy to relax these days, not for me anyway!”
Reminiscent of the pop art of Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney, Bisschops’ 25 paintings in Leisure feature beautiful swathes of pastel colour.
“I don’t really use any shading or gradients in these paintings, so colour and contrast is important,” he says.
“I feel like I am starting to find my colours though, like an old master – I’ve got my go-tos.”
There’s a voyeuristic quality to Leisure with some paintings depicting people on the other side of a window or a small opening.
“I do like people watching; there are a lot more people in these paintings than previous shows,” Bisschops says.
“Windows were a bit of a covid hangover, when we spent our time indoors and looking out windows.
“I like how windows can separate situations – someone might be relaxing in the sun but in the window behind something very different can be happening.
“I think that duality is interesting in a still image and is something I’d like to use more in my paintings.”
Bisschops’ visually striking art has gone down well with the public, and Leisure is his seventh solo exhibition.
Originally from New Zealand, his early exhibitions were inspired by his memories of growing up there, but lately he’s turned his pithy eye to the gilded cage of Perth, where he now lives.
Old hippie
As well as being an artist and graphic designer, he’s also a muso and once played in the Perth band Halogen, before focusing full-time on his contemporary art (although he still dreams of starting a new band one day).
He has a long list of artistic influences including John Brack, Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Dali and Edward Hopper, but is particularly fond of one artist from his homeland.
“I have an old book of a New Zealand painter called Pat Hanly. He was an old hippy and was at his prime in the 1970s,” Bisschops says.
“He painted with a lot of colour and tried to illustrate the connection between nature and people.
“He believed in a shared energy. I’ve found those paintings very inspiring lately. More nature and less computers.”
Leisure is at the Moores Building on Henry St in Fremantle from March 8–24. For more info see www.fransbisschops.com.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK