Out of Line

Michelle Abbott and Patrick O Donnell.

This joint exhibition has been prompted by a Phoenix Spotlight evening back in September 2025 where both artists were independently invited to present self-curated, contextualised, talks about their work, themes and development over the past 20+ years. Realising the connections, cross overs, overlaps and common grounds that emerged from the talks, the artists continued the dialogue to inform the concept of this exhibition, developing the process from studio thinking to gallery realisation.

Line has connected both artists’ individual practices, not only as a recurring formal element, but also as a metaphor, and tool, to explore themes of origin, identity, place, time, travel, social and geopolitical issues. With both artists working in a predominantly reductive, largely non-figurative manner, it is the weight of the line that carries the meaning from behind. Colour, surface, form and experimentation have led both artists to work in diverse methods and media to present their ideas – this exhibition will feature an array of approaches including threads, drawings, prints and paintings – exploring dialogues between key elements of each artist’s enquiry, and a site-specific collaborative installation using threads.

A revisited Spotlight artists’ talk – “Lines of Enquiry” will take place on the 22nd May to accompany the exhibition. Please book here.