Art / The Immersive World of Thom Roberts. At the National Portrait Gallery, until July 20. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

Is the latest National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition a coup for the gallery or the idiosyncratic artist Thom Roberts?

Featuring more than 100 pieces spanning his short and ongoing career, Australian artist Thom Roberts’ first solo exhibition shows how his vibrant imagination becomes a reality.

His distinctive style, marked by idiosyncratic motifs such as extra eyes and noses and his signature “piano teeth”, is revealed in a captivating journey through paintings, installations, animation, and a significant new work.

Multilayered art is a thing of Roberts. His paintings on photocopies are direct representations of objects that grab his attention. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Kermit the Frog are just a couple of his eye-catching artworks.

Andy Warhol and others transformed the everyday into art, but Roberts seems to emphasise fun and amusement rather than a statement about how art can be viewed.

He has a keen eye for nature and moving objects, including trains, dogs, rats and cats, and for his human subjects, these bear his trademark dual eyes, which can be visually disturbing.

Most works also have a distinct neatness. This shows an artist who cares and is not just slapping paint around. Colour could be his medium. His backgrounds are mostly a single colour, and he chooses them wisely. They don’t jar or seem out of place, but it’s clear that colour is a strong component in his visual world.

In a few, what seem like abstract representations of human faces appear to push his thoughts in different directions. These are trying to say something that his usual method does not allow. He has done this with animals, too.

The graphic nature of several shows a fine hand. His detailing of trains, which fascinates him as there are many in this exhibition, shows how big, bold things represent a solid force in his life. They are stable, predominant and image-worthy.

There’s something in this National Portrait Gallery (NPG) exhibition for everyone. The art lover, the graphic designer, the inquisitive, children and parents will all find bright and unique images that are worth a second look because they are embedded with a spirit of kindness.

The NPG needs to be commended for putting this exhibition on. It wasn’t long ago that artworks like these would only be shown as part of a satirical exposé of art hiding some brutal truth, similar to what the Bald Archy Prize does. Also, it’s Roberts who needs to be lauded for his ability to create instantly recognisable art that could be a whole new form of art in itself.

Portrait of the artist as a… train, actually