In the blue corner

Artist Richard Lewer is member of Northside Boxing Gym in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, where he trains aspiring boxers. This work evokes the environment and atmosphere of Northside gym, including its blue wall, a collection of its member's mouthguards, and Lewer's painted renditions of the framed photographs displayed on the walls at Northside. Lewer's documentary film shows his boxers both in the gym and in his studio for a day-long drawing class. In the blue corner takes us into the gym, while also bringing the gym to the art world. Lewer has a passion for both art and sport and he is deeply engaged in the communities that inhabit both worlds. Throughout his life, art and sport have always crossed over and influenced each other, and his artistic practice has included overt references to table tennis, fly-fishing, and champion woodchopping. For Lewer, sports are not merely subjects to be superficially depicted. They are instead allegories for the discipline required in any pursuit, and perhaps more importantly, the extremes and resilience of the human condition.