Allouche Gallery is pleased to present a culturally significant and powerful body of work by the legendary Australian painter Anthony Lister. The paintings on display, along with the title of the show, THE ART OF FACT, are filled with philosophical intention and mirror Lister’s specific message, which is best described by the painter himself:
“I have a problem with the word ‘art’ and especially being titled an ‘artist.’ I feel that these are buzz words where all sorts of slithering pseudo-creative types can hide in its ambiguous aura. My preference leans more towards the literal, therefore I refer to myself as a painter. For starters the word ‘art’ is far too short and (as far as I can decipher) is an abbreviation for the word artifact, is this correct of me to assume? If this is so then I find myself (in the context of contemporary language) making facts. This is where I begin to confuse myself and also feel a sense of overwhelming excitement and amusement because of the fact that if I am (for lack of a better word) in fact making art and the product of my function as a painter is factually unmistakably the literal manifestation of this thing we call ‘art,’ I come to the realization that I am in essence a fact maker, which is quite an exciting realization for someone who has been called a dreamer of fantasy and imagination….Facts are wonderful in theory. Theory is disastrous without action. Action speaks louder than words. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. This is a show about how I turned the word ‘art’ into the ‘fact.’ This being the case I imagine being told by people, ‘hey, I like your fact’ to which I will reply ‘thank you.'” — Anthony Lister
