About Rhett Brewer

Rhett Brewer has worked and exhibited as a professional artist and art lecturer since 1981. During this time his work has evolved stylistically towards the Realism and mostly urban subject matter we see today.

The subject matter of his early paintings was the rusting hulks of old and abandoned cars that are still a common sight in the paddocks and fields of rural Australia. There was, and still is a strong emphasis given to form and the play of light across the surface of an object. The works belong essentially to a tradition of realism in western art but they are carefully organized into compositions that present their own dynamic which is often at odds with the original subject as it appears in nature. Things are left out, put in, or simplified to fit the mood of the painting.

Some works are made on the spot, by direct observation. Most works begin with a photograph. The artist has a digital camera with him at all times so the when the light is right and something presents itself, it can be captured as a reference for another time. Thus chance plays an important role in the selection of subject matter. The subject can be imposing and grand or it could be the poetry of a simple play of light on some ordinary thing or place. The works may be photographically derived but they are never photorealistic in intent.

Much of the recent work depicts the built environment especially Sydney with the aging buildings and streets of the inner suburbs. The shadows are often long and the skies are often dark. It’s the romance of ordinary things that attract this painter, but it’s a romance that is often combined with a strong formal composition which is usually associated with geometric abstraction and the kind of quirky observations that are often found in Pop and Surrealist paintings. Into this mix we often find an ironic nostalgia for the modernism of the recent past.

The artists who have had the biggest influence on Rhett Brewer’s paintings are Mondrian, Carot and Edward Hopper, along with a list of filmmakers and musicians too numerous to mention.

Rhett Brewer works and lives in the Blue Mountains which lie west of Sydney. His work has been exhibited in Australia, Hungary and Israel. There are examples of his paintings in public and private collections in Australia, USA, UK, and France.