The works of New York artist Gregory Uzelac are currently being exhibited behind a set of nondescript, graffiti-laden doors on Sydney’s Bourke Street. The exhibition, titled Nice Is Different Than Good, has an underground feel to it. The art is presented on tarpaulin and pizza boxes, alongside traditional canvas. In each piece, neon-hued paint has been splashed about in shapes that are abstract, confronting, and occasionally reminiscent of Wassily Kandinsky.

This is Uzelac’s first exhibition in Australia. Beyond art, he has a background in writing and comedy, and it shows. One painting is titled: Who would you eat first on a dessert island? The answer: The guy from IT. The exhibition reveals how the technologies of today, which we think will save us, are actually destroying us. To illustrate this, Gregory takes us away from the present moment and tries to see the world from both the distant past and distant future. From both perspectives, he suggests, the world is insane. Our technologies look like obscure wastes of time, yet we venerate their ‘usefulness’ in the present day. Our heroes look like villains, our villains like heroes. Where does that leave us? Scared, confused, and detached from our authentic selves.