John Walter: Gizzard's Eye

About

For his exhibition Gizzard’s Eye at Commonage, John Walter continues an exploration of colour-field painting through his idiosyncratic and maximalist approach. The installation has been developed from Walter’s surreal and joyous imaginary world ‘Happy Crust’, populated by an array of fictional characters, culinary delicacies and curious architectures. With unusual combinations of Day-Glo and pastel colour, undulating psychedelic patterns and abstracted forms, Walter animates microscopic aspects of these critters and the fantastical universe that they inhabit.

The blush pink wall mural is punctuated by a line up of portraits of a range of Walter’s protagonists. These include the mischievous duo Gizzard and Whizz (the show’s title is drawn from the former’s portrait) and the autocratic King Prawn. The work celebrates the materiality of colour, world building, and non-linear narratives.