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In an approach all too rare in contemporary art, Crawford’s painterly style is one of sheer exuberance. The paintings, often based on factual moments of history, veer into fantastical layerings of human drama portrayed against a nature unleashed, sailing boats and locomotives pitted against sea and forest; the semi-mythical Ned Kelly a heroic and mystical figure blending into the untamed forest.
“It was his need, his relentless passion and commitment, his evident spontaneity and resolve which stopped me in my tracks,” says Fantl. “But, above all, what really convinced me was not the storytelling per se, but the intense power of tough brush strokes, jabbing of brush handles and the slashing of palette knives which hurl Crawford’s story at the viewer and into visual and emotive sensibilities.”
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