It’s fairly common these days for artists to combine their artistic practice with the role of curator. Brigid Noone explores the tension of this hybrid model in the role of artist and curator for the exhibition Major Tender.
Through her research, Noone has found that, while her work is personal, when she has curated exhibitions and worked on projects with other artists she has been able to be more political.
In Major Tender, Noone explores her own practice and works collaboratively with other artists: Kate Power, Salote Tawale, Gemma Weston and Jodie Whalen. It’s a gentle curatorial process: the artists are mostly working in pairs to create new experimental works that look at painting in the expanded field, pushing the boundaries of the medium.
“Perhaps it’s a way to expand my own practice, to work more sculpturally or with video and not be stuck in a category,” explains Noone. “I have always liked working beyond the limitations imposed by creating an object. I like painting on walls and installation work.”
The collaborative processes of negotiation and conversation are intrinsic to creating the work, and it becomes less about defining the outcomes. “Conversation has become a big material – the time to imagine what could be,” says Noone. “It’s a way of expanding the conversation and not limiting art into one way of practice.”
Major Tender
Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia
5 November – 7 February 2017
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