SYDNEY BALL: INFINEX

This pioneer of Australian abstraction hailing from the City of Churches is, at the age of 79, still wowing us with his skillmanship in the slippery trade of colour. Of his latest series, Infinex, the artist is quoted drily, “They look what they do,” and certainly the two-dimensional assemblages allude to little beyond their paint-daubed canvases. But in a jungle of florid figuration or po-faced performance art this is a welcome relief. This one-time student of Theodoros Stamos (peer to Rothko and Pollock of the infamous ‘irascible 18’ collective) has certainly left his indelible mark on Australian art and in this series continues the legacy. While the work may shirk definition, echoes of his earlier 1970s Stain shapes can still be seen here in Infinex – a telling title perhaps, marking time in both a historical continuum and a career full of reverberations and narrative-defying shapes. (AB)

Until Dec 1, Sullivan + Strumpf, 799 Elizabeth St, Zetland, 9698 7607, sullivanstrumpf.com