“Pool Noodle” (2024) consists of a series of large paintings that reflect upon the historical legacy of abstraction, particularly as it relates to the Australian experience of Modernity. The aim of the exhibition was to consider the complex relationship of Australia to concepts of importation, avant-gardism, modernity, leisure and national identity.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Sutton GalleryNTRO Publisher
https://suttongallery.com.au/exhibitions/pool-noodle/Start Date
2024-06-22End Date
2024-07-20Medium
Oil on foam pool matResearch Statement
For “Pool Noodle,” an installation of large Abstract Expressionist or Papunya sized paintings were presented as a means to contemplate a pool of contradictions (abstraction/symbolism; universalism/provincialism; grandiosity/flippancy). A pluralistic conceptual and affected space was deliberately sought as a counterbalance to a cultural and political climate of singular declarations. The artworks ask to exist outside of instrumentalised notions.
As a series of new works these artworks (“Pool Noodle,” 2024) ask questions that are vital to our NeoLiberal, computational age, such as: How do we relate to affect in the age of computers and “creative industries”? How does Australia imagine itself symbolically? What is the aesthetic relationship between Modern Australian Art and Modern Indigenous Australian Art? And, how can we image complexity in an era of simplification and flatness.
“Pool Noodle” (2024) was exhibited at Sutton Gallery, one of Australia’s most prestigious commercial galleries. The exhibition was attended by large contingent of industry figures, artists and academics. It was reviewed/previewed by Tiarney Miekus for The Age Newspaper on 31/7/24.Size or Duration of Work
An installation consisting of 5 paintings, all 100 x 190cm
