‘People love to say “so and so changed world history” as if to say if Gutenberg wasn’t born then we would still be buying handwritten newspapers, or if it wasn’t for Billie Jean King women tennis players would still be playing tennis in wedding dresses. People like the comedy/tragedy that we can solve systematic problems with biographical solutions. We like to think the big systems which dictate our lives like time, other people, attraction, government, the market etc, can be altered by the type of person we are and the way we behave in our lives – our biography.
We choose, or rather we create historical figures who perform the impossibility of pitting their biography against the system. We find comforting those historical figures whose mistakes (death) were to us foreseeable and so to us avoidable.
A story about someone you know is more interesting than about someone you don’t. By using historical figures in a painting there is already a platform of familiarity to start from. Historical figures in art function the same way biblical figures in religious culture do, Greek gods in literature do, and totems in indigenous art do, they can be used as surrogates to criticise contemporary behaviour while offering contemporary people the comfort of plausible deniability. History painting feels like gossip because it has the accessibility of a moral pantomime where no-one feels judged and everyone can judge.’ – Cameron Hayes, 2023
ARTISTS TALK – Saturday 3 June 2pm
Image above: Cameron Hayes In the South Pole the explorers were so afraid of not having enough food for winter …
Image above: Cameron Hayes She died in the child welfare tribunal, he died in an adult bookshop 2020-21 oil on …
Image above: Cameron Hayes Angry angels help Adam with the first dictionary 2020 oil on canvas 198 x 254 cm …
Martin King ledger of the lost years ‘24 and ‘25′ N.D graphite, watercolour and gouache on drafting film and paper …
Image above: Dianne Fogwell Prescience 2023 linocut and woodcut 4,500 x 145 cm – installation at Geelong Gallery Congratulations to …
Image above: Raymond Arnold Congratulations to Raymond Arnold, who has been Highly Commended in the 2024 Glover Prize, and to …
Image above: Greg Johns The Kiss (Buried Alive) 2022-23 Corten steel 140 x 486 x 18cm “Congratulations to Greg Johns …
The three adjoining properties which comprise the Australian Galleries Sculpture Park in Porcupine Ridge are now on the market. The …
Image above: Marina Strocchi Dusk in the Hills 2023 acrylic on linen 60 x 93 cm Marina Strocchi’s insightful writing …
Image above: Greg Johns Sit Down Fella (Contemplative) 2023 Corten steel and bronze 260 cm high To view a selection …
Image above: Barbie Kjar and her winning work No Expectations 2024 Photograph by Louisa Chircop Congratulations to Barbie Kjar, Winner …
‘David Frazer is primarily a graphic artist, a printmaker, who in his work creates a little microcosm, or a convincing …
Image above: Simon Normand Map – Australia 2023 acrylic on canvas and mixed media 145 x 170 cm Simon Normand’s …