Ones to Watch: Bryan Mew

Outstanding artists to have on your radar right now. Charlotte Middleton writes.

Hong Kong-born artist Bryan Mew’s practice centres on the slippage between digital and analogue processes. Formally trained in painting at RMIT University, Melbourne, Mew explores the generative possibilities of contemporary technological innovations, alongside the preservation of traditional mediums. Coupling artificial intelligence with painting, his work interrogates the dual forces of precision and chance involved with utilising these technologies in creative and playful ways. His recent Neo-human series is comprised of a collection of A.I.-generated figurative distortions, compositions, and collages that resemble surreal and mechanised versions of the body. The body in each work becomes imbued with an intriguing sense of dynamism, emulating the poetics of data, paint, and the human physical form. Mew has been shortlisted as a finalist in multiple art prizes including the 2021 Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Awards, 2021 National Capital Art Prize and 2022 Lethbridge 20000 Art Prize. He has also exhibited in group shows including at Melbourne’s Brunswick Street Gallery and Red Gallery, and The Other Art Fair, Melbourne and Sydney.

Featured Image:Bryan Mew, Rebirth, 2021. Oil on canvas, 31 x 31cm. Courtesy: the artist.

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