From the end of 2019 into the beginning of 2020, fuelled by years of severe drought, massive bushfires ravaged much of
Australia. Their aftermath had a devastating impact on people and the land. Thoughts of recovery seemed far from our
control. To make sense of it all, Gavin Brown painted a work called After the Fire – an attempt to find beauty amidst the
chaos of the crisis.

And then coronavirus hit. The artist spent the majority of Melbourne’s lockdown in his studio, looking outward. Once again,
everything appeared so ugly. Trying to make sense of this bizarre and difficult time, Gavin turned his focus to hope. Instead
of dwelling on the destruction he chose to concentrate on the regrowth of Australia’s flowering gums and native flowers. In
response to this, he set about creating optimistic artworks out of that time of devastation.

After the Fire aims to bring a series of works that inspire confidence in the resilience of humankind and the regrowth of
nature.