This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2013/sep/11/australia-art-frost-review

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Towards The Morning Sun, Campbelltown Arts Centre – review Towards The Morning Sun, Campbelltown Arts Centre – review
(7 days later)
Is contemporary art just another name for the globalisation of culture? Will its endless and rapacious expansion eliminate the uniqueness of art made in culturally unique places, ironing out its differences into market-ready commodities? Such are the questions prompted by Towards The Morning Sun at the Campbelltown Arts Centre.Is contemporary art just another name for the globalisation of culture? Will its endless and rapacious expansion eliminate the uniqueness of art made in culturally unique places, ironing out its differences into market-ready commodities? Such are the questions prompted by Towards The Morning Sun at the Campbelltown Arts Centre.
The show, curated by Keren Ruki, sets out to explore the work of artists who, according to the gallery blurb, "…engage with and interrogate elements of Pacific culture". The nine Australian and New Zealander artists in the show are all of Pacific heritage and their work attests to the attraction of the familiar forms of contemporary art such as performance, video and photo-media as ways of communicating their ideas. Nearly all the works also include, or allude to, elements of traditional Pacific arts, from sculpture and painting to song, dance and ritual performance.The show, curated by Keren Ruki, sets out to explore the work of artists who, according to the gallery blurb, "…engage with and interrogate elements of Pacific culture". The nine Australian and New Zealander artists in the show are all of Pacific heritage and their work attests to the attraction of the familiar forms of contemporary art such as performance, video and photo-media as ways of communicating their ideas. Nearly all the works also include, or allude to, elements of traditional Pacific arts, from sculpture and painting to song, dance and ritual performance.
Almost the first thing you see when you walk into the gallery is a series of works by Niki Hastings-McFall. A New Zealander of Samoan and English descent, Hastings-McFall makes art that would not look out of place in a homewares store: Flock (2009), a series of plastic cutout jet shapes, is arranged on the wall in concentric circles, wing tips touching. In an adjacent room Home From The Sea (2012), presents the viewer with a cluster of white standard lamps each adorned with snow-white synthetic leis, the traditional gift to travellers on their arrival or departure. Hastings-McFall's work is almost instantly engaging, its sleek and refined aesthetic subtly reminding one of the climate-controlled atmosphere of an airport concourse, and the deadening mix of cultures one finds there.Almost the first thing you see when you walk into the gallery is a series of works by Niki Hastings-McFall. A New Zealander of Samoan and English descent, Hastings-McFall makes art that would not look out of place in a homewares store: Flock (2009), a series of plastic cutout jet shapes, is arranged on the wall in concentric circles, wing tips touching. In an adjacent room Home From The Sea (2012), presents the viewer with a cluster of white standard lamps each adorned with snow-white synthetic leis, the traditional gift to travellers on their arrival or departure. Hastings-McFall's work is almost instantly engaging, its sleek and refined aesthetic subtly reminding one of the climate-controlled atmosphere of an airport concourse, and the deadening mix of cultures one finds there.
A similar mix of Western and Pacific culture imbues Brett Graham's work. A New Zealander of Maori descent, Graham's sculpture Mihaia (Messiah) (2010) is a replica military six-wheel scout car, made of carved MDF and found wheels. The surface of the vehicle is incised with traditional Maori carving designs that in other circumstances have a range of very specific meanings that impart cosmological, mythological and genealogical information, but in this context suggest the complex history of colonial rule in the Pacific and the shared aesthetic of the rituals of war.A similar mix of Western and Pacific culture imbues Brett Graham's work. A New Zealander of Maori descent, Graham's sculpture Mihaia (Messiah) (2010) is a replica military six-wheel scout car, made of carved MDF and found wheels. The surface of the vehicle is incised with traditional Maori carving designs that in other circumstances have a range of very specific meanings that impart cosmological, mythological and genealogical information, but in this context suggest the complex history of colonial rule in the Pacific and the shared aesthetic of the rituals of war.
Sam Tupou's suite of colourful prints engages with an idea that seems almost magnetic in its attraction for artists who want to imagine a more inclusive future, a kind of Pacific take on Afro-futurism where traditional visual elements are repurposed into futuristic icons. Tupou's work uses elements of Tongan tapa-designs, statuary and lace-like overlays with sci-fi kitsch in imagery such as alien landscapes and strange flora and fauna. Part street art, part T-shirt design, Tupou's darkened room of bright images is accompanied by an spooky soundscape of drumming and distant voices, adding another layer to its good humoured futurism.Sam Tupou's suite of colourful prints engages with an idea that seems almost magnetic in its attraction for artists who want to imagine a more inclusive future, a kind of Pacific take on Afro-futurism where traditional visual elements are repurposed into futuristic icons. Tupou's work uses elements of Tongan tapa-designs, statuary and lace-like overlays with sci-fi kitsch in imagery such as alien landscapes and strange flora and fauna. Part street art, part T-shirt design, Tupou's darkened room of bright images is accompanied by an spooky soundscape of drumming and distant voices, adding another layer to its good humoured futurism.
These three artists present work that engages with the complex reality of diaspora, and also functions as an engagement with the traditions of Western art. How an artist navigates a meaningful dialogue with contemporary art in a globalised culture is a vexing question. On the one hand, Tupou, Graham and Hastings-McFall present work that can be understood visually – it's attractive, precise and, with the assistance of a few well chosen paragraphs on the wall text, an understandable mix of cultural reference points. But other work in the show isn't quite so approachable.These three artists present work that engages with the complex reality of diaspora, and also functions as an engagement with the traditions of Western art. How an artist navigates a meaningful dialogue with contemporary art in a globalised culture is a vexing question. On the one hand, Tupou, Graham and Hastings-McFall present work that can be understood visually – it's attractive, precise and, with the assistance of a few well chosen paragraphs on the wall text, an understandable mix of cultural reference points. But other work in the show isn't quite so approachable.
Eric Bridgeman, originally from the Jiwaka Province of New Guinea, is an artist who explores contemporary taboos as his subject. An extensive wall text explains in a mixture of first and third person that Bridgeman went to Alberta, Canada, to see where Heath Ledger appeared in Brokeback Mountain, and commune with the local ice hockey team, but ended up spending a huge amount of time alone in his studio making noise, applying body make-up, drumming, putting on a fuzzy hair wig and painting his face. The resulting video, In the Project makes for unnerving viewing – what is the artist doing? And why? An accompanying suite of prints is even more direct: 12 photos of the artist dressed up in classic gollywog/clown clothes.Eric Bridgeman, originally from the Jiwaka Province of New Guinea, is an artist who explores contemporary taboos as his subject. An extensive wall text explains in a mixture of first and third person that Bridgeman went to Alberta, Canada, to see where Heath Ledger appeared in Brokeback Mountain, and commune with the local ice hockey team, but ended up spending a huge amount of time alone in his studio making noise, applying body make-up, drumming, putting on a fuzzy hair wig and painting his face. The resulting video, In the Project makes for unnerving viewing – what is the artist doing? And why? An accompanying suite of prints is even more direct: 12 photos of the artist dressed up in classic gollywog/clown clothes.
A performance-video by Samoan-New Zealander Rosanna Raymond Da Savage K'lub (2013) satirises European conceptions of the savage in a work that looks like a mix of fashion posing and dance culture with a cheesy house music soundtrack. In another room, Salote Tawale Sometimes You Make Me Nervous and Then I Know We're Supposed to Sit Together for Awhile (2013) is a votive niche of plastic flowers, a beer bottle and two mannequin hands arranged around a TV screen on which the artist, her face painted as a skull, is seen eating roast chicken, and then a mango. Does this have something to do with the artist's Fijian heritage? It's hard to say.A performance-video by Samoan-New Zealander Rosanna Raymond Da Savage K'lub (2013) satirises European conceptions of the savage in a work that looks like a mix of fashion posing and dance culture with a cheesy house music soundtrack. In another room, Salote Tawale Sometimes You Make Me Nervous and Then I Know We're Supposed to Sit Together for Awhile (2013) is a votive niche of plastic flowers, a beer bottle and two mannequin hands arranged around a TV screen on which the artist, her face painted as a skull, is seen eating roast chicken, and then a mango. Does this have something to do with the artist's Fijian heritage? It's hard to say.
Towards The Morning Sun doesn't offer definitive answers to the questions of contemporary art and its influence on globalised culture, nor does it have to. The work represents the responses of artists, some in dialogue with the wider world, others in introspective contemplation. Even though some of the work veers very close to cliché, all of it is presented with a sense of honesty and openness that cannot be denied.Towards The Morning Sun doesn't offer definitive answers to the questions of contemporary art and its influence on globalised culture, nor does it have to. The work represents the responses of artists, some in dialogue with the wider world, others in introspective contemplation. Even though some of the work veers very close to cliché, all of it is presented with a sense of honesty and openness that cannot be denied.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.