CONDITIONS | 处境
Melbourne · Shanghai · Nanjing
05-25.11.2016
CURATOR | LANSHENG ZHANG
Environment, whether it is natural environment or political social environment, has forever more concerned us in our life in the twenty-first century. The legacy of science and social advancement of the twentieth-century, together with its adverse impact on nature and human society, drives a major shift in our general thinking and attention from obsession in focusing on human societal issues to the environment we live in that affects our living conditions.
This exhibition, titled Conditions is compiled of five artists’ works from Australia and China to reflect such a shift in our societies and resultant artistic expressions. It shows that no matter where we live, we share the same concerns on elements that influence the conditions of our living environment. The artworks in this exhibition are selected from a body of art work of each artist, and display the artists’ individual artistic language across various art forms, from paintings, sculptures, installation art, and sound art, each expressing the common concerns relating to their individual life experiences. Such common themes in artistic languages has become prominent across countries and regions in local and international contemporary art scenes. This tendency speaks not only of aesthetics, but also increasingly becomes a political voice in our contemporary life.
The collaborations between the sound artist Jay-Dea Lopes and the artists G.W. Bot, Travis Paterson, and Zhang Xin are important aspect of this exhibition to demonstrate the common concerns that are shared between the artists in their creative process. At the same time, it provides audiences with an access to the exhibits through the “dialogues” between sound and vision.
ARTISTS & WORKS
▶Travis Paterson
Travis Paterson is an artist and educator based in Northern NSW whose work encompasses both traditional and digital printmaking. His work primarily addresses ideas of identity, memory and queer histories.
Upon graduating from Southern Cross University he was awarded the Kaske Fellowship enabling him to co-curate a touring exhibition of Australian printmakers that was shown in Bristol, UK, as part of the renowned international IMPACT conference.
In 2013 he won the Ursula Hoff Institute prize for his finalist entry in the prestigious Geelong Acquisitive Print Award. Paterson has also undertaken a residency in Mooste, Estonia.
To be born with a caul and
to never fear drowning, 2016
Lambda print
115 X 110cm
Jay-Dea Lopez
interpretive sound work
▶Jay-Dea Lopez
Jay-Dea Lopez is a field recordist whose practice delves into the psychogeographic aspects of environmental and personal space.
Within this field Lopez explores the way in which sound informs our relationship with our social and environmental heritage.
Lopez’ compositions have been featured in galleries, radio broadcasts and festivals in Australia and abroad. Recently Lopez has been involved in cross-disciplinary exhibitions where he composes soundscapes that respond to visual art-works.
Lopez lives and works in Main Arm, northern NSW.
Eesti, 2016
Projection, still images played in loop
Jay-Dea Lopez
interpretive sound work
▶G.W. Bot
G.W. Bot studied in London, Paris and Australia, graduating from the Australian National University in 1982. She has been a full-time artist since 1985 and has held over fifty solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Manila.
Her work is represented in over one hundred public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, The Albertina (Vienna), British Museum (London), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Bibliothèque nationale (Paris) and Fogg Museum of Fine Arts (Harvard University, USA), as well as numerous Australian regional galleries, corporate collections and domestic and international tertiary, college and academy art collections.
Fallen Glyph, 2015
steel
250 X 400cm (variable)
▶Yifeng Tan |谈一峰
Tan Yifeng is a Canberra based artist. Graduating from the Canberra School of Art, ANU with a Graduate Diploma of Art, Tan has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas.
As an award winning artist for the Canberra Art Prize (2003) and a number of prestigious awards, his work is held in public art insitutions and private collections in Australia and overseas.
Our…, 2015
Installation
Mixed Media
300cm
▶Xin Zhang | 张新
Zhang Xin is important artist in the contemporary Chinese art scene and one of the key players in the development of contemporary art in Shanghai in the 1990s.
She worked as a professional artist at the Shanghai Oil and Sculpture Institutes after graduated from the Sculpture Department of Art School, Shanghai University in 1990. Her work challenges public perceptions on traditional value of female social conditions in comtemporary economic and political environment. She has participated a number of major art events and biennals in China, and her works have been selected to show in some key art exhibitions in China and overseas.
Climate N.2, 2016
Installation
Ice, flowers
30 X 200cm
Jay-Dea Lopez
interpretive sound work
You must be logged in to post a comment.