There’s a saying in Australia, ‘never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn’. It basically means, that in the heat of telling a good story, it’s semi-acceptable to embellish the truth a little bit to make the story a bit more exciting. Truth is, we love a good conversation, and if we’ve had a couple of beers, we might get a little bit carried away in the moment: ‘The fish was thiiiiiiiiiiiiisssss big, you shoulda seen it.’
There was no need for tall stories when three Australian artists Tom Gerrard (Melbourne), Elliott ‘Numskull’ Routledge (Sydney), and Matt Fortrose (Adelaide) joined forces in London to present an art exhibition titled ‘Convo’ at StolenSpace in Shoreditch, East London.
In the spirit of conversation, I hit up each of the artists to get some chat going about the show.Hey guys, let’s start with your version of events:
Tell us how the show came to be, the concept, and what the concept means to you.
Elliott Routledge: StolenSpace approached Tom about curating a small Australian group show. The concept of ‘Convo’ literally came from us having ongoing conversations throughout the lead to the show. This and ultimately the harmonious dialogue between all of our work.
Matt Fortrose: The concept for me means a balanced conversation. We wanted to put together a show that was true to each of our styles, while also working collaboratively. Much like bringing opinions to a discussion while also listening and observing.
How did you team up with the other two artists for this show?
ER: We formed like Voltron, but a more jetlagged version.
MF: Earlier in the year Tom got in contact about doing a show in London with him and Elliott. From there we started chatting over Skype and email about the details of the show.
Tom Gerrard: I’ve been a fan of Matt and Elliott’s work for a long time now. We didn’t know each other too well, which made it exciting to work together. It was a great opportunity to make a bit of a wish list of artists I’d like to work with. We’re all from different parts of Australia and it all came together really well.
How did you approach your work for the show with the ‘conversation’ theme in mind? And how did you collaborate with the other guys to tie the work together as a conversation?
TG: We had a few Skype conversations. We all seemed to be on the same page as far as concepts and ideas for the show. It was almost like planning a wall with your mates. Except it was in a gallery on the other side of the world.
ER: We spent time discussing colours and rough themes. Bouncing ideas and colours off each other become what informed the work. The installation for the front room of the gallery tied it all together.
MF: I think in all our work we have certain abstract themes and motifs we use. For my paintings, I wanted to include elements I thought were a good representation of style and to also use a colour palette that is typical within my work. We all paint pretty graphically, so having the works sit side by side wasn’t going to be a huge challenge. What we did discover is, by accident, we’d all used a certain colour and interpreted it in our own way. Usually that could be a disaster but, in this case, it was a nice surprise.
Tell me about the installation piece you guys collaborated on.
TG: We thought it all up on the spot and built it over a couple of days. The hardest part about it was getting a jigsaw. But Traffic came through with the goods.
ER: This was a more free-flowing convo. We had a rough plan and it evolved and changed as we painted and installed it.
MF: Building the installation in the front room happened really organically. It was a case of taking elements within our paintings and turning them three-dimensional. The end result almost looks like a theatre background, with our identifiable parts working together to form the set.
How was the work received by the English audience?
ER: I think it was received well. London is like a second home for me, and I think the others also, so it felt comfortable to show work to people there.
MF: There was a great turn out at the opening and some kind words about all the work. We’d each had a connection to the UK in the past, so going back this time to exhibit new works was a great chance to show our progression.
TG: We had a lot of great feedback. The opening was packed which was great. You never know how things are going to go when exhibiting on the other side of the world. 
Quick Questions to polish it off:
Tell me a good convo you had recently.
ER: I had a long conversation with my son about time travel recently.
MF: I hadn’t met Tom or Elliott until we all landed in London, so chatting and talking shit in person was great! Plenty of crappy dad jokes throughout the week.
TG: I had a conversation with a Moroccan guy in Barcelona yesterday. It went for two hours and it was all in Spanish. I was surprised I could still speak Spanish after so many years. I think the beers helped.
Favourite place to have a beer and a yarn in London?
TG: That was probably my favourite beer in London. We also went to the same pub after the opening and had many a beer and a great yarn.
ER: The first or second day we all met in London, we sat on the road outside the Pride of Spitalfields, drank beers, and wrote our names on the floor. That was a good time.
MF: Literally anywhere. My beer intake goes way up when going back to London, so either sitting in a pub or out on the kerb, it’s always pretty chill. The weather every day we were there was in the high 20’s (°C), so it made drinking even more enjoyable.
What Australian phrase or word has gotten you funny looks in London?
TG: I was waiting to get served in a pub and turned to my made and said ‘who do you have to root to get a beer around here?’. It didn’t go down too well.
MF: Meeting someone and saying, ‘how ya gahn?’ (how’s it going?). Brits are mostly taken back by that. Much in the same way we are when they greet us with “you alright?”
ER: I got a few looks when I said ‘arvo’ while I was there.
Any London-based artists we should be keeping an eye out for?
TG: Matt Sewell is doing some great work.
MF: I’ve always liked Lucas Dupuy’s work. There seems to be a nice digital/analogue balance going on within his paintings.
ER: I caught up with Camille Walala whilst in London. She is doing some really amazing things. Also, Haser from New Zealand now lives there. He’s an amazing graffiti writer but also is creating a really nice body of gallery work.
Follow the artists on Instagram:
@funskull
@tom_gerrard_
@_fortrose_
Visit StolenSpace Gallery: stolenspace.com
Luke Shirlaw is the founder of Artillery Projects – a graffiti art publisher, and visual studio specialising in mural production, graphic design, and content creation. Follow him on Instagram, or subscribe to Artillery’s ‘The Drop’ for exclusive email interviews.