NEIL Gordon Lees’ A Canuck Looks Down Under, a photo exhibit of various icons, showed us how to see Australia from a different perspective.
Held at the Australian Centre in Makati last June 12 to July 5, the exhibition marked Lees’ second solo show in the Philippines.
Lees says that after visiting almost 50 countries, Australia continues to draw him back.
“No matter how far we go or how long we stay away, whenever we see a bit of home, our sometimes expatriated heart is touched,” Lees says.
His longing for home is evident in his works, as his subjects are mostly bridges and opera houses in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
The exhibition focused on the 70-year-old Sydney Harbour Bridge. In a simple picture taken from an angular perspective, the bridge looks like geometric figures. Lecs develops pictures using both sides of the negative, then creates photo collages with the prints. The works seem figureless at first, but a closer look reveals rich details. Staring at the masterpiece, you will realize which part of the bridge was captured by the camera, and then the great architecture of the bridge is seen.
Lees was born in Ontario, Canada. When he moved to Manila, he became the vice president and creative director of Info Solutions International. He began his career in the visual arts in Denmark and studied stone carving with Greenlandic artists Mariuu Olsen and Makka Kleist.
Lees is currently based in Thailand and in Denmark, where having studied at the Theatre Resource Center in Toronto and Montreal, he designed and directed for the Inuit Theatre Company.
