English-born, Whanganui-based print artist Anthony Davies comes to the Ashburton Art Gallery with two series of work contrasting the ideas of guilty and innocent.

He is particularly interested in documenting social conditions, calamities and conflicts which people negotiate in order to live their lives. He is motivated by a concern for humanity and an interest in the narrative tradition in fine art printmaking.

The Surveillance series comprises 27 linocuts using surveillance CCTV video stills, newspapers and Police Ten 7 crime watch reality television footage.  They are often blurry and the perpetrators’ facial details are often indistinct.  The outlines of the offenders are white against a backdrop of black.  Like suspicion and the unknown, Davies’ visual strategy evokes a sense of the fear, suspicion and a dread that these true-crime images represent for real victims and for the viewer.

For Plight of the Innocent, Davies selected his subjects from international news stories, covering conflict, disaster, poverty, displacement and the destruction of the natural environment. The series highlights the importance of the need to respect and care for our planet and fellow humans.