When I entered MOP gallery in Chippendale I was met with a flood of voluptuous nude flesh attached to fiendish eyes positioned in suggestive poses, piled in canvases from floor to ceiling. Behold the exhibition of Tim Schultz’s life’s work, Schultztown, that combines Rococo sensibilities with devilish accents, spread legs and surreal practices. Bit confused? I know I was.

It is easy to see that Schultz’s style has bloomed over the years. Having started with a simpler, even kitschy approach of comfortable scenes of nude gods and goddesses comparable to the Rococo period, Schultz has extended himself to a myriad of dark, grotesque, buxom female nudes staring at the viewer, with claw like hands, demonic faces and overflowing pubic hair. The paintings are highly stylized and dramatic realisations of the traditional nude. It’s enough to make you feel somewhat intimidated by this bevy of glaring women, baring their naked bodies in poses reminiscent of Freud.

However, this is where Schultz takes the viewer a bit left of field. His technique takes a dramatic jump into a kind of Dali-esque, alien-style portrayal of nudes. Although almost misogynistic in their representation of the female form, this style was my favourite of Schultz’s. With an acute emphasis on eyes and the gaze, these pieces somehow seemed to judge the rest of the exhibit’s paintings for their comparable conventionality. The futuristic ladies, still with elements of the Rococo theme, appear trapped and deformed representations of the earlier styles Schutlz experimented with. Although a slightly disjointed exhibition, I would definitely recommend Schultztown for a grisly salon of filth and indecency that explores the female body as an object to be reckoned with.

While you’re at MOP gallery, you shouldn’t leave without first checking out the more quiet but equally engaging joint exhibit from the artists Monica Behrens and Rochelle Haley, which compliments Schultz’s blatant female eroticism perfectly.

Where: MOP Gallery, Abercrombie St Chippendale
When: Until April 10th, Thursday – Sat 1 – 6pm, Sun & Mon 1 – 5pm
How much: Free