Piercing the veil
A new exhibition at Buxton Contemporary finds a rich complexity in the shadowy terrain between life and death.
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Claudia Nicholson, Don’t Let Me Down Let Me Down, (installation view), 2017.
Claudia Nicholson, Endless Rain II: For The Taki Unquy, the Ice Maiden, the Amazons, the daughters of the sun and the moon, La Llorona, La Malinche, The Brown Berets, Las Sillateras de Santa Elena, The San Antonio 4, Mercedes and Maria (full of grace), 2017, Watercolour, pearl pigments, diamantes, bronze leaf, ground down human teeth and glitter on paper.
Caroline Garcia, Rumba Sola (video still), 2014, Digital video, 1.25 mins.
Present, curated by writer/curator Kate Britton (who is also the director of Art Month Sydney), brings together a group of unrepresented artists: Kalanjay Dhir, Caroline Garcia, Get to Work, Samuel Hodge, Claudia Nicholson, and Athena Thebus. For each of these artists, and the trio behind Get to Work, identity is at the core of their practice. Their work seeks to make those who have existed until very recently outside the mainstream, culturally visible.
Britton says, “For centuries there has been silencing, and sometimes violence, toward anyone that can’t fit into what the powers that be deem ideal or default. People of colour, queer and trans bodies, those living in non-nuclear and non-traditional families, for example – who haven’t seen themselves represented in the public sphere – have been made invisible. It is time not just to acknowledge this problem, but to start to rectify it in some small way through platforming self-representation of those who have been ignored and represented by others for too long.”
The work selected interacts with conversations about identity outside the normative and artists who, according to Britton, “refuse to be flattened into one thing, or one label”.
The other element of Present examines changes in the art sector that assist artists who choose to remain outside the traditional model of the commercial gallery. Britton noted, “Some artists prefer a more fluid approach… we’re seeing different models too – studios that encourage critical curatorial engagement, online spaces, public and non-commercial institutions opening up to more experimental practices.” In Present, artists open their experiences, often autobiographical, through their work. Britton concludes, “Each of these artists/ collectives help us to reflect on our own identity, what we take for granted and what needs a closer look.”
Present
Darren Knight Gallery
3 March – 31 March
A new exhibition at Buxton Contemporary finds a rich complexity in the shadowy terrain between life and death.
In Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie currently showing at the National Gallery of Australia, viewers are invited to share a journey through the history of modern art from across the globe.
In our ongoing series, Shelf Portraits, Art Guide writers recommend the books—recently published or deserving of more attention—that shed new light on an idea that has long simmered in the art world or has helped them see a familiar medium in a different light.
Curated by artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, the program is centred by the theme of Rememory. Originating from author Toni Morrison, the ideas seek to explore the intersection of memory and history—revisiting, reconstructing and reclaiming histories that have been erased or repressed.
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An exhibition 50 years in the making, Auto-Photo: A life in Portraits currently on display at RMIT Gallery, celebrates the life of Alan Adler, one of the oldest and longest-serving photobooth technicians in the world.
