Other Sites – European monuments 2000-2004
Other Sites is a series of paintings whose focus is the Grand European Monument and its relation to contemporary life. The inspiration for the series comes from the time spent by the artist at the British School in Rome on an Australia Council residency. Living in Rome gave the artist an opportunity to explore and appreciate this monumental urban space and to begin the journey of discovery through Rome’s charged historical layers. This motivated Alex to split up the imagery depicting urban scenes in various sections, replicating an archaeological dig in sorting and stacking sections of the views. He recalls entering urban spaces such as the Piazza Rotunda in Rome, a site so dense and overwhelming, that he needed to split visual imagery in the one frame in order to get some sense of all points of view simultaneously. The timing of his stay in Rome fuelled his interest in depicting the fractured and volatile structures of Ancient Europe.
I started this series whilst at the British School in Rome and remember seeing the events of 9/11 flashed across television screens. The confronting images of the New York skyline under attack inevitably made me more aware of Rome’s vulnerability as a structure and a place of monumental importance to Western Culture.
