New Acquisitions in Context 2010

‘Neon Light Installations’ by Peter Kennedy

We are all in search of new perspectives. Life is made yet more intriguing by such discoveries, and the everyday activities and observations are seen through different viewpoints and proportions within such exploration. The New Acquisitions in Context 2010 exhibition now on at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) lets you into such brand new territory.

Featured in the exhibition are Australian and international artists, both emerging and established. It’s interesting to see how the old and the new inhabit the same space, but compliment each other with their individual takes on the world we inhabit.

The array of thematic concerns embedded in the works is revealing – the practice of art, landscape and nature, time and politics mingle together, defined by their respective mediums. From screen-based works and papier mache to comic strips and drawings, these forms deserve their own exploration in how they enhance our engagement with the artists’ works.

‘The European' by Laith McGregor

Dorota Mytych’s work on display is titled ‘Mutatis Mutandis’ (2005) and features a mesmerising tea leaf animation on DVD that appears and disappears as the image fades and is reformed. I love the way the character positioning keeps changing, which in turn changes the story being told.

‘Carbon Copy’ (1998) is a creation by Simryn Gill. It is made up of 35 typewritten pages of text taken from political speeches and media statements made by Mahathir Mohamad (the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia), politician Pauline Hanson and Bulgarian-French philosopher Julia Kristeva, between 1997-98. It’s a powerful statement about art, history and politics; where language is at the centre of how ideas and meanings are communicated. It’s also disturbing in the way the words run into each other, and the blurred confused feelings it evokes.

One of the pages from Simryn Gill's ‘Carbon Copy (tricky ways)’

There were two pieces that actually made me physically react. ‘Atem Object (Breathing Object)’ (1972) by German artist Gunter Weseler is both intriguing and disconcerting. The breathing ball of fur was quite unexpected, and I jumped back in alarm at this complete violation of domesticity. Positioned next to the bread, a staple of life for most, it is threatening, but shows that life in its different forms will continue to co-exist. ‘Sound 1-6’ (2006) by Patrick Hartigan will definitely bring a smile to your face. All those activities you take for granted and rush through are brought into vivid focus through magnified sound. So the next time you tie your shoelaces, will you take a minute to listen to what that sounds like?

Through the ages, art has been viewed as an agent of socio-cultural comment and change. Yet when art turns in on itself, and attempts to examine its own creators and their collective failure in making any substantial impact in that socio-cultural space, things fall apart and it is time to unravel the fantasy. This concern is at the centre of Juan Davila’s work ‘Fable of Australian Painting’ (1982-83). Ironically enough, it is in the form of a comic strip: It’s insidious, witty and fearless.

‘The New York Daily News on the day that became the Stonewall riot’ by Mathew Jones

Mathew Jones produced one newspaper by hand and reprinted 1,000 copies of it, and it was worth all that painstaking work. It’s titled ‘The New York Daily News on the day that became the Stonewall riot’ (1997-2002), and is to be handled with kid gloves – literally. The day is 27 June 1969, and Judy Garland has just been laid to rest and the events at the Stonewall bar are about to happen. Jones’ newspaper is frozen in that ubiquitous moment between the gay icon’s death, and the riots that many claim were inspired by her life and death, and marked the start of the gay rights movement around the world.

Arlo Mountford’s video and audio animation ‘The Folly’ (2008-09) is truly captivating. His project is to animate three paintings by Pieter Bruegel, the Elder. A two dimensional world of seasonal transitions is brought to life via jerky animation, and a soundtrack that takes you across the images one by one. Workers are hard at labour-intense work, while the aristocrats are at play – a folly indeed.

A still from Arlo Mountford's ‘The Follly’

The exhibition also features works by James Angus, Hany Armanious, John Barbour, Sophie Coombs, Hayden Fowler, Matthew Griffin, Mary Gubriawuy, Peter Kennedy, Laith McGregor, James Morrison, Robert Rauschenberg, Sangeeta Sandrasegar, Tim Silver, Ken Thaiday, Imants Tillers and Simon Yates. 

The MCA has been running this series since 2005, and it’s a wonderful opportunity for artists to open their work to a wider audience and to ensure that such work is preserved for the future, as well as for art lovers to explore new works and different perspectives. New Acquisitions in Context 2010 will run till 19 June 2011. For more details, visit www.mca.com.au

Image source: Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Image © and details:
1. Peter Kennedy ‘Neon Light Installations’ 1970–2002 neon, composition board, synthetic polymer paint Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2004 Image courtesy and © the artist

2. Laith McGregor ‘The European’ 2010 pencil and ball-point on paper Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010 Image courtesy the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney © the artist
 
3. Simryn Gill ‘Carbon Copy (tricky ways)’1998 1 x ink on paper; 1 x carbon on paper Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010 Image courtesy the artist and BREENSPACE, Sydney © the artist

4. Mathew Jones ‘The New York Daily News on the day that became the Stonewall riot’ (detail) 1997–2002 printed newsprint paper Museum of Contemporary Art, gift of the artist 2003 Image courtesy the artist and Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne © the artist

5. Arlo Mountford ‘The Follly’ (still) 2008-09 3 video channel, 4 audio channel digital animation Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2009 Image courtesy the artist and GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney © the artist