Andrew McLeod freely splices together genres of illustration and painting such as architectural illustration, renaissance painting and modernist abstraction with a crazed punk sensibility. His incessant borrowing of artistic styles is evident of an artist who finds personal meaning within the eclectic rather than homogenised notions of self expression and identity. In pursuing such an idiosyncratic visual language McLeod’s work often resists easy analysis but in turn offers generous visual stimulation.
For the Te Tuhi Billboards McLeod has created a series of spontaneous abstract digital vector drawings made on his iPod touch. Each billboard features a slight variation of translucent red, grey and charcoal arced shapes that have the appearance of roughly cut out pieces of paper. As a series the three compositions resemble a type of crystalline rose slowly unfolding. Experienced from the street it soon becomes apparent that the colours are directly sampled from the site itself. The grey and charcoal hues taken from the concrete and tarmac - the red is unmistakably borrowed from the neighbouring Warehouse building. Considering the site-specific colour sampling the abstract arcs could also be read as a kaleidoscope perspective of the location. As a type of digital urban abstraction McLeod’s work plays with the subliminal effect of corporate branding and our visual orientation of the urban landscape.