About the exhibition

Mike Parr is widely regarded as one of Australia's pre-eminent artists. Since staging his first solo exhibition in 1970, Parr has developed a distinctive practice spanning performance, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation for more than 40 years. His work is characterised by its cathartic intensity, emerging from personally demanding processes that explore the limits of language and the body. Central to his practice is the extensive “Self-Portrait” series, encompassing over 1,000 works across multiple media.

Breaking Off will present a series of etchings that investigate Parr’s struggle with the memory of his late brother Tim and their relationship, alongside SHIPS IN THE NIGHT, large-scale photographic documentation drawn from Parr’s performance archive spanning 1975–2005. Following its installation and durational blind painting performance at Syrup Contemporary, the documentation is now partly visible and partly blacked out, acting as both record and residue. Installed across 20 metres of gallery walls, the work will be accompanied by a video and photostream of Parr’s performance, documented by his longtime cinematographer Gotaro Uematsu and stills photographer Zan Wimberley.