Andrew McLeod’s fantastical paintings often reference the history of art, especially renaissance era religious painting. At other times, he engages more of a pop cultural, contemporary surrealist lexicon. This untitled oil painting on canvas from 2008 fits more into the latter category. It is a detailed figurative painting which shows a world of McLeod’s own imagining, riffing on an invented visual culture drawn from fantasy. The composition is dominated by the central tree and the rainbow that passes over it. Houses and a rudimentary structure formed by logs give the work a reference to architecture, as do stacks of geometric objects in the corners of the image. There are stairways, a cut apple, wheat and a bird resting in a nest. A Andrew McLeod – untitled Essay by BILLY DAVIS...