André de Vanny

This work will be on show at Carriageworks from 3-6 September as part of Curatorial+Co.'s Sydney Contemporary 2026 presentation.

André de Vanny explores the tension between the abject and the sublime, drawing on the ethereal qualities of early Renaissance painting and the visual language of contemporary abstraction. His practice is deeply physical, incorporating cycles of disintegration and repair that reflect the human experiences of trauma, resilience, and healing.

Says de Vanny of this work, "This painting originally began on the opposite side to what is now the face of the artwork, as I used paint and plaster to build up the thin, open-weave canvas to a thick, rugged surface. Eventually that side was abandoned, and my focus shifted to the raw, stained blue ground underneath the work. The loose composition, drawn from various studio references, was sketched into the surface in charcoal and pastel. Thin layers of acrylic were used to mass in shapes and figures before a final layer of oil paint gave colour, texture, and intensity to the work."