In 2011–12, Warrnambool-based artist Glenn Morgan was inspired by the changing environment around him to create an enormous painting which explored themes of drought, fire and flood. This 10-metre long epic work, Global warming, is currently on display at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The painting’s four adjoining panels are packed with stories, including exhausted CFA workers fighting fires and flooding rivers full of furniture, vehicles and debris. The stories come from both Morgan’s own experiences and from media images and stories, including of the cataclysmic Black Saturday bush fires.
Morgan says he intended the painting ‘to be like a road trip starting with daytime and finishing at night… I really wanted this work to be able to work from a long distance, then as you get closer, you get the more detailed information there is for the viewer to read’.
Glenn Morgan’s whimsical paintings and sculptures are bright, bustling scenes of figures and movement. His whimsical paintings and sculptures have a strong regional flavour and while often humorous, are keenly observed and socially aware.
The exhibition runs until Sunday 31 January, 2021 at Art Gallery of Ballarat. For more information, click here.
Image above: Glenn Morgan Global warming (detail) 2012 acrylic on board 124 x 972 cm