Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane
November, 2013
This group of work continues Dodd’s exploration of suburbia and it’s fringes, both physically and metaphorically. Motifs such as chain link fences, prickly pears overflowing from backyards and the detritus of vacant blocks are shifted from commonly overlooked to luscious renderings. Most distinctly in this exhibition, Dodd presents recent outcomes of his experiments with unusual bicycles and urban intervention.
Specifically, Dodd is interested in the way in which bicycles might be both a site for creative investigation and a mobile catalyst for intervention. Attached to an already unusual bike is a wooden arm that appears to have been constructed by following a set of DIY instructions. This unfolds to simultaneously prop up the contraption as a whole and form an easel; a play on the histories of plein air painting and processes of creativity in urban landscapes.
Fences in various states of repair, plants that overcome their manmade restrictions and abandoned suburban residues come together in this exhibition to form a conversation that revolves around rules, containment and order in our own backyards.