Lewis Ihnatkob. 1995
Selected works
Installation views
Press release
Lewis Ihnatko’s work has always existed in the space between sinister and playful, but that contrast is especially pronounced in this exhibition of paintings made between 2023-2024. During this time he created a diverse array of work, from video to abstract mixed-media drawings, but the paintings for Specialized are prodigiously detailed figurative surrealism: paintings that communicate perplexing narratives, utilizing warped perspectives and varying degrees of photo-realism. Influenced by a series of challenging life events and made possible by experimenting with new art-making techniques, this exhibition showcases a major evolution in Ihnatko’s painterly style.
The most prominent event during this period was the death of Ihnatko’s father, George “Tig” Ihnatko, from multiple sclerosis in November 2023. Tig was notorious for his upbeat personality and warped sense of humour - Ihnatko notes that throughout the decades of degenerative health issues, Tig always faced his tribulations with positivity, and Ihnatko tried to follow suit. Holding On (2023) captures a tragic moment of Ihnatko holding his father’s hand in a hospital bed. Instead of dwelling on the pain of this scene, Ihnatko introduces another moment of a man and a young boy on the hospital monitor screen which dominates the composition: maybe a memory with his father, whose diagnosis when Lewis was aged 1 would go on to influence their relationship for the rest of his life.
In addition to Tig’s death, during these years, Ihnatko experienced a romantic breakup and family conflict and struggled with the financial uncertainty of a career as an artist, bringing to the surface severe anxieties. These experiences influenced the idiosyncratic worldbuilding, which Ihnatko’s art is known for, leading to the extremely diverse range of vignettes in this exhibition. Some are deeply disturbing and violent - wounds in a woman’s leg reveal robot circuitry in Red Mist (2023), a haunting gothic landscape seen through a formation of fingers in Refuge (2024).
However, Ihnatko says that he tried to approach adversity with a sense of humour throughout this difficult time in his life, much like his father. Although sometimes bleak, there is a playful absurdity to much of his work here, such as Trustfund Traphouse (2023) and Witness (2023), which demonstrate his capacity for gentle humour in his work.
As well as in its storytelling, this exhibition contains some of Ihnatko’s most technically detailed paintings. His recent integration of digital and real-life painting has given him the opportunity to add even more depth. He often first creates a digital draft of the painting, giving him the opportunity for unlimited revisions, introduction of minute detail, and finessing of warped perspectives, before projecting this digital draft onto a canvas to be painted using traditional materials. He also began utilising new techniques such as airbrushes in his painting, creating the “uncanny valley” photorealism seen in Lorem Ipsum (2024) and Treason (2024).
Ihnatko says that with so many sad things happening around him, his art felt more important than ever - it was something that he was able to control, a goal to work towards, and as a result, he has produced what could be described as his most personal body of work to date.
—Text by Alfred Faber
