The Urban Text

The Koskela Gallery is proud to present The Urban Text: a series of new work by talented photomedia artist Jon Setter as part of the 2019 Sydney Design Festival.

The series is part of Jon Setter’s ongoing project that explores the normally unnoticed or ignored aspects within urban environments. This project originates from the concept that today, most cities and urban spaces have become more chaotic, condensed and overbearing. At the same time the constant stream of imagery and media shared online has seemed to dictate what is worthy to witness. This raises the question: What might people be overlooking in the spaces they occupy, and does that effect how we consciously understand and experience place?

While wandering through a space, Jon focuses on its seemingly mundane and everyday structures. He utilises the camera to precisely organise their formal characteristics such as texture, colour and material. Through this process, along with employing a strong sense of light, vibrant and highly geometric abstract compositions are created that at first glance may not even appear architectural or represent any one specific place. The works invite audiences to slow down and take a closer look at their surroundings and reveal how the most vernacular elements of a place can have a role in the way it is understood and represented.

Jon Setter was born in Detroit, Michigan, and is currently based in Sydney, Australia. He received a B.A. from the College of Creative Studies in Media Arts and recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the National Art School.

His photography primarily focuses on urban spaces and architecture. Jon wanders through cities looking to document a perspective that is normally not visualised. Aiming to make use of repeated formal patterns such as colour, material and texture, he methodically organises them to develop an abstracted expression of space. Hoping to establish that even the most vernacular aspects of a place can have a role in the way it is understood and represented.

Jon has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne. He has been awarded a number of photography prizes, most recently with Life Framer and the International Colour Awards.

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