Allie Webb
Allie Webb's playful, intricately detailed carvings in lino depict a monochrome world of indulgent dinners and late night carousing. The pieces have a sense of humour about them, focusing on relationships, particularly those played out around the table.
Aesthetics from the past and present combine to create elaborate streetscapes and table settings. The viewer is taken to a tired pub, decorated with neon stripper signs and old beer advertising. Punters emerge, drunk, into the night for one more whisky, or to gorge themselves at their favourite Chinese restaurant. A couple argue over a wine match to accompany their plump oysters. Tables explode with bounty. A dripping wax candle sits alongside vintage Rhone and a fancy crown roast.
The prints evoke feelings of both familiarity and unease, reinforced through contrasts in Webb's bold style - clunky lines, intricate patterns mixed with a strict black and white palette narrating the vibrant scenes. Marrying influences from seemingly disparate sources, Webb's work brings together the energy of Australian pop artists such as Martin Sharp in a graceful union with the indulgent and dark conceptuality of German Expressionist Max Beckmann.
Based in Sydney, Allie studied Communication Design at RMIT before working as a book designer at Penguin. She's the art director for Swillhouse Group and is behind identities of Sydney's Restaurant Hubert and Shady Pines Saloon among many others.