Where: Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba
When: 27th June-27th July 2015

David Middlebrook’s latest offering at Lost Bear Gallery is a collection of paintings and drawings which pay homage to the horizon and landscape.
This latest exhibition features oil paintings and sepia drawings of the Australian desert, together with a selection of black and white drawings of the Blue Mountains.
Middlebrook's painting technique is richly distinct and identifiable with the artist. With a steady hand, Middlebrook uses a palette knife to lay a fine trail of colour in horizontal strips to amass an abstract colourfield and sense of an endless horizon.

James Willebrant, Graham Hallett and Ida Halliday

Middlebrook was awarded a PhD (University of Newcastle) for his research and body of work in Australian landscape painting and art history in 2006.
His career spans 25 years, with over 30 solo exhibitions and works in numerous public collections.

The Lost Bear Gallery website describes the artists practice- Both Middlebrook’s paintings and his minimalist drawings in black ink share a sensitivity to mark making as a vehicle for distilling the essence or narrative of the landscape. There are striking aesthetic differences between the paintings and drawings, yet both come about through an obsessive practice and a unique approach. His work is quiet, with meditative qualities, perhaps suggesting more of a response to, rather than a depiction of place.

The exhibition opening at Lost Bear Gallery was treated to the music of pianist Young Ju Ku, who volunteered her time to entertain the crowd with some classics. The opening was a successful gathering and celebration of David Middlebrook's unique look at the landscape.