Two for the show…

GunFu Two, an exhibition of painting and musical composition between Stephen Brameld, Jay Staples and GunFu’s Benjamin Witt, opens at Lawson Flats this Friday, October 17, with a live performance at 8pm. BOB GORDON invites himself into the collaboration.  

If it sounds familial, that’s because it is. Back in 2023 Perth musician Benjamin Witt (The Chemist, Romeo Walker) composed six pieces of music inspired by six paintings in Mad Dogs, an exhibition of works by his cousin Stephen Brameld and creative partner Jay Staples.

The six tracks appeared on the debut album of Witt’s experimental jazz outfit, GunFu. Two years later the process has been flipped, with Witt’s music speaking to Brameld and Staples’ collaborative visuals, resulting in a new exhibition and album, GunFu Two.

“It felt logical to flip it around this time,” explains Stephen Brameld, “for Jay and I to respond to what Ben was putting down. We started by playing Ben’s demos in the studio, just listening at first. You can try and think, and you can contemplate, but at some stage you just need to put the paint down and see where it takes you. We love Ben’s music, particularly with GunFu, so it’s also just an utter pleasure to paint to.”

Yet while the dynamic was reversed, Witt says that in composing the tracks, it wasn’t a case of taking into account that a dedicated visual outcome to this music was on the horizon.

“No, not at all,” he qualifies. “Stephen approached me after the songs had already been composed. They were all written the night before a gig we had where I realised last minute that we needed another set.”

Importantly though, the two parties are well aware of the commonalities in terms of theme and dynamics between their visual arts and musical creations.

“Interaction. Improvisation. Intuition…” Witt says. “And the exploration of textures.”

“Jazz, like our collaborative painting approach, is rooted in improvisation and experimentation,” adds Brameld. “You need to respond to the ever-changing moment. Someone is always pulling you in another direction, or maybe you’re pulling them. The music or the painting effectively tell you where to go. Something about the dialogue from one musician to the next, from musician to painter, from painter to painter and back again.”

Brameld notes that the most unexpected thing to emerge from this project was the figuration and narrative that forced its way into the paintings.

“I suppose music conjures not just an emotional response but also stories of everyday happenings or of fantastical things,” he posits. “This level of explicit figuration has not been seen in Jay and I’s work for a number of years.

“Shepherd’s Dial was the first demo to set the tone for the series. Its bright, dreamlike, sparkly texture that floats atop a buttery base spoke of the pretty but dirty yellow pear colour you see in this painting and throughout the series. The Docks is a brooding, curious tango, which ironically conjured an image of a lonely, solitary figure. Without a partner, this figure tangos with the docks. It’s interesting to think of colour as a representation of sound. I couldn’t help but think of ‘horizon purples’ here.”

Both highly acclaimed in their respective creative realms, as first cousins Witt and Brameld have known each other their whole lives. They’re not, however, in a rush to make too much of a deal about there being a familial connect inherent in their collaborative work.

“I like to think that I have an independent admiration for Ben and his musical ability, outside of any blood relation,” says Brameld. “If there is a familial connection present in the work, it would be hard to specifically identify. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist. Being cousins helps mostly on a communication level… ‘Hey Ben, where are those tracks?'”

“I don’t think so,” responds Witt. “It just means you can send absurdist texts without restraint, really.”

The GunFu 2 exhibition’s opening night will showcase painted feedback to the record, track by track, followed by a live performance at 8pm by GunFu—also featuring Ben Vanderwal, Harry Mitchell, Sean Little and Marc Earley—of the album. As the exhibition continues into December, a recording of each track will accompany its corresponding painting.

Clearly energised by the experience once again, there are more plans for this creative partnership in the future.

“The collaboration is ongoing,” says Brameld. “I’d like to continue the conversation. I have ideas of doing a live thing or doing it all at once in the room together, working off one another’s energy and seeing what comes of that.”

GunFu Two opens at Lawson Flats this Friday, October 17, 2025. For more info, head to lawsonflats.com