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Caleb Reid puts his art first but still turns heads in the surf |
Photo: Brad Malyon – frothers.com.au
You may have heard of Caleb Reid, junior pro surfer and Aloha team rider. But you may not of heard of Caleb Reid the emerging artist who has been clocking up more time in the studio lately that in the surf. Sydney based Caleb is currently studying sculpture at the National Art School, Darlinghurst and last week hosted his second sell out exhibition titled, New Works – a lonely hearts affair with a Zoloft patient.
Having already achieved success on the pro circuit, Reid made a conscious decision to opt out of the pro-surfer trajectory in order to pursue his creative ambitions and establish a formal art practice. In 2011 he gained admission to the historic and highly esteemed National Art School and immersed himself in rigorous learning program with a focus on drawing, painting, sculpture and etching.
He still surfs (like a pro) and has the convenience of a beach side studio. But don’t expect to see any kitsch wave paintings or dolphins-at-sunset kind of stuff. Reid has used this latest body of work to explore some complex themes of mental fluctuations and to deepen his understanding of the relationship between creative and emotional forces.
Photo: Brad Malyon – frothers.com.au
Reid cites his main artistic influences as the Australian painter Brett Whiteley, early American graffiti artists and infamous champagne swilling Londoner, Francis Bacon. He views Whiteley’s uncensored emotional expression as a source of inspiration, “Whiteley had an immediate emotional connection to his work and just opened the vein of creation without any self-judgment.”
With American graffiti artists, Reid likens their skills and practice to the traditional Masters style of learning:
‘Graffiti treats lettering just like the human form. There needs to be a physicality, weight and thought given to each letter. Graffiti artists spend years studying and perfecting before they lay any kind of creativity over the top of that it, much like a drawer or painter does the with body.’
The influence of Bacon’s work comes through in the neat colour-blocked thirsty surfaces that serve as a stage for the thrashing forms. And in the spirit of the times, Bacon believed firmly in the power of the hangover as a way get to the truth of his paintings. Luckily Reid is much sounder of mind sees this zone as being achievable without the aid of substances:
“when you start drinking that point when creation flows but then it starts to fog in again. I think it is more about trying to find where that point of flow is and trying to live in that. If you can strive for that point I think that the more you live in it the more stuff will emerge.”
Photo: Brad Malyon – frothers.com.au
When asked about where he sees his future direction, Reid’s response was just as perceptive: “I’m still very young and when it comes to my paintings this is very much still a discovery phase of how I could paint, or rather how painting could come out of me. I think I’m starting to find a level of sophistication that I can maybe start to call painting.”
After selling all the works in his recent exhibition Caleb capped off the big week by winning his local Bronte Boardriders competition for the third straight time. “Now I’m off to France for a month long surf trip with my brother and a mate,” he told Tracks. Caleb has found a way to make his creative passions work in harmony and we look forward to seeing what he comes up with next in and out of the water.
