Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art in Sydney will open an exhibition of recent paintings by Melbourne artist Marc de Jong on June 10th. de Jong gained recognition as a street artist in Melbourne and his work is now held in several collections throughout Australia. He collects the imagery for his paintings from a variety of sources, including the Internet, television, movies, and newspaper. His contemporary scenes include an isolated car crash, an image of Princess Leia, a video still from a gas station hold-up, men huddled on Wall Street, and two cheetahs hovered over the entrails of a zebra. The artist then translates this diverse subject matter onto his canvas by painstakingly painting individual dots, personalizing the wide realm of technological imagery and humanizing the prolific pixel.

There was an eruption of public art in Melbourne between the 1990s and 2004, and de Jong was actively producing during this time. The practice gained institutional respect in 2007 when the National Gallery of Australia purchased its first collection of contemporary street art, which took three years to compile and included 300 stencil designs by 30 artists, including works by Marc de Jong. Melbourne is now an international hotspot for urban art, with world renowned graffiti artist Banksy calling Melbourne’s street art, “..arguably Australia’s most significant contribution to the arts since they stole all the Aborigines’ pencils.”

Marc de Jong’s paintings will be on view at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney until June 29th.