The Age of Loneliness

I don’t know if it was premonition, coincidence or maybe just acknowledgment of a status quo. ‘Companionship in the Age of Loneliness’ is the name of an NGV exhibition of the American artist Brian Donnelly (or KAWS).

Very appropriate, don’t you think? The title and the message behind it couldn’t be more valid today. The concept and the message are a lot to reflect on.

You may not know his name, but you would have seen online or in real life Brian Donnelly’s oversized sculptures and paintings featuring well-known characters from cartoons or pop culture, with Xs drawn across their eyes.

Despite their size, these characters are vulnerable and fragile. There is humour and there is sadness in them. There is hopelessness and there is hope.

They show the need for compassion and support, togetherness and generosity in these times of solitude, isolation and estrangement.