The Museum of Contemporary Art has unveiled the artists chosen for the sixteenth Primavera exhibition, which showcases the work of young Australian artists under the age of 35. The nine artists, representing six different states, are: Patrick Doherty (WA); Honor Freeman (SA/NSW); Briele Hansen (VIC); Anthony Johnson (NSW/TAS); Justine Khamara (VIC); Jess MacNeil (NSW); Amanda Marburg (VIC); Katie Moore (SA/QLD) and Martin Smith (QLD).
Now in its sixteenth year, Primavera is one of the highlights of the MCA program and has developed a reputation for uncovering new artistic talent. Previous Primavera artists include James Angus, Mikala Dwyer, Shaun Gladwell, TV Moore and Lisa Roet, many of whom are now represented internationally. Curated by Christine Morrow, Primavera 07 explores the idea of ‘form and formlessness’ through the transformation of mass, texture, substances and the surface of objects. Morrow has selected works for the exhibition that generate a keen awareness of our senses and the role of perception in the viewer’s experience of art objects.
The exhibition spans two-dimensional, three-dimensional and time-based work including painting, photography, installation, sculpture, video and ceramics. The artists explore materials, surfaces and textures in their works, incorporating humble everyday items such as cloth, canvas, sponge, foam and woodchip. Many of the works harness the evocative power of memory, referencing childhood images and retro-decorative finishes. Several of the artists in Primavera extend their material explorations to include visual deceptions. Honor Freeman works porcelain to resemble plastic, while Katie Moore employs adhesive vinyl that mimics wood veneer. Briele Hansen’s video installation uses the smooth sheets of a queen size bed as a kind of screen on which to present an illusory action of a figure appearing, moving and disappearing.
Amanda Marburg’s paintings begin with hand-moulding of plasticine maquettes which she then photographs using the two-dimensional image as a source in her exacting replications of these images in oil paint. Childhood stories also provide rich subject matter for some of the artists. Patrick Doherty’s paintings incorporate whimsical motifs that refer to myth, fables and children’s book illustrations, while Martin Smith’s photography-based works incorporate coming-of-age narratives from his own adolescence and from rock and roll’s repertoire of lyrics. The Primavera exhibition series was founded in 1991 by Dr Edward and Mrs Cynthia Jackson and their family, in memory of their late daughter, Belinda.
Primavera 07 runs at the MCA until 4 November 2007. It will then tour, for the first time in the exhibition’s history, to Adelaide where it will be shown at the Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Contemporary Arts at the University of South Australia from 18 April to 6 June 2008. The exhibition is an umbrella event of Art & About 2007 presented by the City of Sydney. -- www.mca.com.au
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