Mark Seabrook - 'Mortal Joy'

Wednesday 27 March - Sunday 28 April 2019

Mortal Joy is a series of monochromatic oil paintings referencing images from Melbourne, circa 1940. It draws upon happiness and enjoying life irrespective of one’s mortality.

At first, one may interpret the paintings as macabre – having the atmosphere of being grim and ghastly. On closer inspection, they are quite the opposite.The artist, having travelled extensively through Mexico and Central America – Mortal Joy may draw on inspiration from Día de los muertos (Day of the Dead).

It is difficult to write about these paintings without sounding like a eulogy, but they are not really about death, at least not in a morbid way. They’re not intended to be memento mori or allegories of death but rather as an enjoyment of the whole of life, whilst knowing and learning to accept what comes at the end.