CIVIC ART BUREAU
Alexander Boynes: The edge cannot hold
7.6.25 – 29.6.25
Curated by Benjamin Shingles
For the month of June, Civic Art Bureau will present a body of new artworks by Canberra artist Alexander Boynes. Boynes’ work explores the environmental and cultural cost of fossil fuel extraction in Australia. Through paintings in vivid, fluorescent colour, they depict tension between natural beauty and industrial violence. They inhabit a liminal space between grief and hope, loss and resistance. While the climate crisis feels overwhelming, Boynes’ work conveys an assiduous belief in the power of art to bear witness, advocate for change, and to nurture a vision of a more just and sustainable future.
Alexander Boynes works across painting, photography, print, and video installation, with work is held in major collections in Australia, the UK, and the USA. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including the National Museum of Australia and Center for Art + Environment (USA), and is a curator at Canberra Contemporary.
Exhibition essay, artist statement and catalogue [PDF]
Installation photography by Brenton McGeachie
All works made in 2025. Ink, acrylic and enamel on board.
Say Nothing / Nothing Said, 60 × 80 cm.
Shrouded in Silence, 31 × 61 cm.
Say Nothing / Nothing Said, 60 × 80 cm.
Shrouded in Silence, 31 × 61 cm.
Mirage, 122 × 183 cm.
Mirage, 122 × 183 cm.
The Weight of Memory, 61 × 122 cm.
Say Nothing / Nothing Said, 60 × 80 cm.
Shrouded in Silence, 31 × 61 cm.
In Plain Sight, 61 × 61 cm.
Sheltering Tomorrow, 61 × 61 cm.
Vapour, 122 × 244 cm.
The Weight of Memory, 61 × 122 cm.
Pyrocene, 120 × 240 cm.
Acid Rain, 60 × 60 cm.
Dustfall, 60 × 60 cm.
File Footage (The D. O’Connor Cut), 60 × 60 cm.
Sulphur Sky, 61 × 61 cm
Pyrocene, 120 × 240 cm.
Acid Rain, 60 × 60 cm.
Dustfall, 60 × 60 cm.
File Footage (The D. O’Connor Cut), 60 × 60 cm.
Sulphur Sky, 61 × 61 cm
Vapour, 122 × 244 cm.
Pyrocene, 120 × 240 cm.
Say Nothing / Nothing Said, 60 × 80 cm.
In Plain Sight, 61 × 61 cm.
Sheltering Tomorrow, 61 × 61 cm.
Acid Rain, 60 × 60 cm.
Dustfall, 60 × 60 cm.
File Footage (The D. O’Connor Cut), 60 × 60 cm.
Sulphur Sky, 61 × 61 cm