SAM LEACH

Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne (label on reverse)
Private collection, New South Wales

This work is in good overall original condition. It is in a black timber shadow box frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Sam Leach was born in 1973. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons.) in painting at RMIT in 2004, and is currently working on a Master of Arts. Winner of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize (the Geelong Gallery contemporary art prize) in 2006, he was also an Archibald Prize finalist in 2007 and 2008. His work has been included in various group and solo exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, most recently Bal Tashchit: Thou Shalt Not Destroy at the Jewish Museum of Australia (April 2008). each was recently included in the Australian Art Collectors 2007 list of 50 Most Collectable Artists and was an Archibald Finalist and can be found in the Artbank and Geelong Gallery collections and numerous private collections in Australia, the United States of America and Italy.

With their careful draughtsmanship, their meticulous rendering of surface textures and their poised, paused, momento mori implications, Sam Leach's vanitas still lifes owe a great deal to the inspiration of 17th century Netherlandish painting. Their antique flavour is further enhanced by the works' dark backgrounds, and by the thick layers of lacquery varnish with which they are glazed.

With such overstated anachronisms, the artist is quite deliberately teasing the viewer. Behind his dead game birds and animals and his more exotic 'New World' creatures Leach gives us glimpses of another visual and conceptual frame: the smoothly sumptuous architecture and lighting of contemporary corporate design.