LON Gallery is thrilled to present Monuments, an exhibition of new works by Andrew Atchison.

Monuments stems from Atchison’s ongoing exploration of orientation and stability – ideas that are both foundational to society and relative to the individual – and which materialise through the monolithic objects that define public spaces. The exhibition employs a queer framework to deconstruct the material and sociopolitical stability reinforced by monuments, statues and architecture – those often elevated, static and imposing forms that punctuate the landscape. Stability is reimagined as fluid, ephemeral and subjective, offering countless possibilities to tilt, revolve and invert according to individual perspective.

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For Andrew Atchison's second solo presentation with LON Gallery, Monuments, he exhibits a new suite of photographic works that continue his engagement with public statuary, the fulcrum and queer possibilities for sculpture.

Each photograph is oriented to a single, perfectly spherical bubble captured centre of frame in sharp focus. Blown by artist friends in collaboration with Atchison, the bubbles reflect their surroundings, returning the world to the viewer in refracted, often iridescent hues. Akin to lens flares or miniature celestial bodies, these ephemeral, infrathin moments take precedence over a blurred background of obstinate monuments and upright architecture from across Melbourne.

Historically, monuments are erected to enshrine key figures and nationalist narratives, foundationally shaping how we understand and live within urban society. They reinforce the authority of government, law, and religion, imposing hierarchical interpretations of history and economy. Atchison, however, offers new, subjective orientations that remix these forces. In his compositions, the bubble becomes the point of stability. Furthermore, viewers and installers are invited to choose the image’s orientation, by rotating or tipping it as they wish, without disturbing its internal balance.

Today, we are less inclined to build new monuments in bronze and granite. Yet monumentalism abounds across the suburbs, now manifested by the popular dark grey Dulux tint ‘Monument’, which accords kilometres of picket fencing and acres of Colourbond roofing the low sheen of conservative orthodoxy.

As with Atchison’s earlier works, which incorporate the colour spectrum, incense, and stained glass, Monuments evokes the sensorial qualities of light, colour, and perception to conjure fleeting glimpses of alternative agency and hippie subjectivity within an environment of imposed, rigid structures.

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Jeremy Eaton, 2025