Paris drawings: the most elaborate disguise

Australian artist Tom Polo uses painting and painted environments to explore how conversation, doubt, gesture, and ways of looking are embodied within abstracted acts of portraiture. His works often come from acute observations, absurdist encounters, and personal histories. Drawing on a body of work made during his 2016 residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, Polo’s first book says much about his distinctive, mildly idiosyncratic approach to drawing, painting, and the portrait. The 48 imaginary portraits it presents reveal a language that proves both playful and pointed, naive yet with an astute painterly syntax and sensibility. With an essay by curator Justin Paton.