“Art has always served as a record of our cultural lives,” says artist Jane James when explaining the larger ideals behind her work. “That’s what it has done since the beginning of time.” Throughout her practice, James has understood her art to be part of a larger cultural conversation. Now, in her latest exhibition, Affirmation at Jan Manton Art, she’s extending this idea by responding to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia.
In November last year 60% of Australians voted ‘yes’ for legalising same-sex marriage in a nation-wide plebiscite. After hearing the news, James knew she wanted to mark the occasion. “I really wanted to celebrate the positive result of the plebiscite,” explained the artist. “I was really unsure about what the result would be and I was very worried for everyone concerned.”
Producing strong and theatrically lit compositions, James created eight paintings in which each piece references one letter in the word ‘equality’.
Taking a poetic route, the artist depicted the concept of equality by painting a thread of fluid rope, which weaves a path around various sticks. “There is a visual tension between the rigidity of the sticks and the fluidity of the rope,” says James. “But there’s also a balance between them which I find really pleasing. It’s the juxtaposition of the sensuous, flexible and fluid rope, and the contrasting colour, alongside the sticks, which creates a beautiful form.”
These works of visual and linguistic choreography also have personal resonances for the artist. “My postgraduate study was in furniture design and that gives me an affinity for wood,” she says. “I have an affinity for rope because I grew up at sea, so both of them are intensely personal to me. They’re things I understand and I suppose that’s what makes them useful as devices and motifs.”
Considering that James sees her work as part of a conversation, not as a person working in isolation, she believes this exhibition leans towards the joyous and uplifting: “It’s a pause in our lives to say we’ve done this, and it’s pretty momentous.”
Affirmative
Jane James
Jan Manton Art
30 May – 23 June
Until 2026, Wanneroo Regional Art Gallery will be showing 53 original artworks by one of the most famous artists of the 20th century: Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol ICONS includes famous works such as Elvis (1963), Campbell’s Soup Cans (1968) and Marilyn (1967).
For the 24th Biennale of Sydney, Paris-based Fondation Cartier has commissioned 14 new works by Indigenous artists across the globe, curated by renowned Kuku Yalanji artist, Tony Albert.
From revamped industrial sites to brand new spaces in Sydney, to openings in Adelaide, Melbourne, Cottesloe and Darwin—across Australia there’s a flurry of new and reopening gallery activity.
“Everybody has their own sense of truth.” The acclaimed photographer Steve McCurry, particularly known for his iconic photograph of an Afghan girl with green eyes which featured on the cover of National Geographic, has been travelling and documenting the world for over 40 years.
A collaboration between Perth Festival, DADAA gallery and studio, and four Japanese arts and disability organisations has resulted in A rising in the east—an exhibition that asks what artists with disabilities can achieve when offered the resources.
Parrtjima—the Northern Territory’s annual festival of lights at the Alice Springs Desert Park—is entering its ninth year, and this time the immersive festival’s focus is interconnectedness.
