In the Arctic, bacteria endemic to the region colour icebergs a gentle 1950s cocktail pink. In Antarctica a similar phenomenon lends a green tinge to the ice floes, earning them the title of ‘jadebergs’. Before boarding a Russian icebreaker in Arkhangelsk, adventurers admire inquisitive beluga whales and walruses.
When she talks about that initial trip to the Arctic it’s easy to see her awe and the “incredible light.” Except of course, a grim edge tugs at the poles. This northern summer saw sea ice come crashing to new record lows after 30 years of rapid melting.
The artist, always concerned by global issues, “from acid rain during the 1980s with my studio in Paris, and then protesting the cruise missiles at Greenham Common also in the ‘80s” as well as being a feminist, seeing the effects of ice melting first hand greatly moved Anderson. “People are watching the world around them change.”
In Journeys: Due North, the works deal with ideas of extreme travel and expedition work, but it is in the keenly realised sculptural forms which reference the nomadic existence in a world “where weather has begun to lose the cyclic seasons”, which Anderson feels closest to.
“The sculptures touch on stories of migration, of being out of place, of being the ‘arrivist’.” Weaving a folkloric story, deeply connected to the landscape, Due North hinges on Anderson’s multidisciplinary practice. “The work does not represent any particular moment, but rather the videos and sounds bring together an experience.”
Journeys: Due North
Lisa Anderson
Art Gallery of Ballarat
20 August – 2 October
65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art is an extraordinary account of the unique art of this continent, published alongside a landmark exhibition at the Potter Museum of Art. Necessary and urgent, it tells the story of Indigenous Australian art; a new art history unlike anything we’ve seen. For Jane O’Sullivan, it’s a remarkable and must-read book.
In a new series of illustrated postcards available as a free gift with purchase only at the Art Guide Bookstore, Oslo Davis takes on classic and contemporary art terms and genres and reimagines what they could be referring to.
With so much to choose from, we’ve rounded up the major summer exhibitions in each capital city, open all summer long. Spanning Yayoi Kusama, Magritte, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, and many more.
Now showing at Home of the Arts (HOTA), the sophomore Gold Coast Triennial, Here and Now, brings together 42 contemporary artists to represent the depth and dynamism of the city’s artistic community.
In his latest exhibition at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Jack Ball challenges the extractive history of the archive while searching for shapes that can articulate the complexity of trans life.
Melbourne-born figurative artist and ceramicist Rob McHaffie takes a global view of human idiosyncrasy. His biggest exhibition to date, now showing at Bendigo Art Gallery, covers over a decade of his painting practice.
