Some artworks I’ve seen recently
During my “spare time” over the last two weeks, I’ve been to see a few exhibitions in Sydney. Here are some highlights:
Southern Exposure Works from the Collection of the San Diego MCA, 21 March - 1 June 2008.
Take a walk through the past four decades of contemporary art from America’s West Coast, with a new exhibition showcasing works from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Jeremy Blake - Winchester Mystery House. I like how seeing an artwork leads me to find out about things I never knew about (random trivia?) such as the Winchester Mystery House.
Bill Viola - Eternal Return 2000 & Heaven and Earth 1992. Most of the Bill Viola stuff I have seen is very BIG & LOUD! These two works at the MCA were a bit different. One had two monitors facing each other with footage of his dying mother on one and his new born child on the other. It was a bit eerie looking at the poor old woman in such a state.
Jump by T. Kelly Mason and Diana Thater’s structuralist 16mm game involving jump-roping and a Bob Dylan song (Subterranean Homesick Blues). There were 4 different performances of the song in different styles such as folk and polka.
also at the MCA
Fiona Hall: Force Field 6 March - 1 June 2008.
This exhibition presents an in-depth survey of the work of Australian artist Fiona Hall from the 1970s to the present.
World Press Photo 08
This exhibition features the award-winning photographs from the 51st annual World Press Photo contest.
There were amazing images from war torn and poverty stricken countries as well as emotive portraits. One series I found striking was by Oliver Gulmann in the Comtemporary Issues section. It simply had photos of people watching TV, they were from varied places such as China, Morocco, USA, UK, Africa. What striked me was their expressions - zoned out, mesmerised and bored. It made me think about how mind numbing watching too much tv is!
I also liked the series by Travis Dove on images of Skatopia.
For a complete change the next exhibition I went to was Taisho Chic at AGNSW.
This exhibition explores the impact of the simultaneous clash and embrace of modernity and tradition on arts and design in Japan of the Greater Taisho period (1900–1930). 22 May - 3 August 2008. I really loved the artworks presented here, the modern meets tradition Japanese screens, prints and objects. I really liked the kimonos with modern patterns and I love art deco era hairstyles on Asian ladies.