About

Good for the Gander is a body of five monochromatic paintings, each of depicting a portrait surrounded by patterned and repeated illustrations of birdlife. The subject matter of my work looks to comment on notions of toxic masculinity, drawing parallels between young men and the locally hated birds of Sydney. Painted in acrylics and drawn with inks my colourful paintings look to question the comfort of young men partaking in toxic behaviour or with a destructive mentality. Likening these young men to the scavenging birds surviving under the loathsome eye of many Sydneysiders I aim to provoke my generation of men to move away from the all too easy stereotypes placed upon them by society. This work was conceived after experiencing some of my most open-minded male friends furthering destructive gender stereotypes, sparking me to want to display how sometimes even the most liberal thinking men can find it difficult moving away from such gendered roles. Similar to the birds of Sydney, young men would find life easier living in harm-free environments, but continue to persist in their toxic circumstances due to the ease of living in these harmful environments.

Bio

Gabe Wahl is a third-year painting student working in acrylics and inks. He is interested in portraiture and illustration and how the combination of these traditional techniques can create interesting dialogue in contemporary art. The artist’s work often explores the social failures of young men, investigating the place of masculinity within modern society.

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