‘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 …
Image above: Orest Keywan That Line 2023 steel 168 x 271 x 190cm Congratulations to Orest Keywan, Michael Snape and …
Image above: Andrew Antoniou Weird & Wonderful 2024 charcoal on paper 82 x 88 cm Congratulations to Andrew Antoniou who …
Image above: Christine Wrest-Smith Portrait of Susan Johnson oil on linen 122 x 92cm Congratulations to Christine Wrest-Smith who has been …
Image above: Deborah Williams The air smells different 2023 aquatint intalgio 53×39.5cm Congratulations to Deborah Williams, Martin King and Phillip …
Above image details: Jenny Rodgerson Mum’s orange cardigan 2024 oil on linen 60 x 40 cm Congratulations to Jenny Rodgerson and …
Image above: Sarah Tomasetti From Balpatta X 2024 145 x 150 cm pigment oil and marble dust on fresco Congratulations to Holly …
Image above (left to right): Graeme Drendel Portrait of Rick 2024 oil on canvas 41 x 31 cm | Michelle Hiscock …
Image above: Janet Luxton Giant Australian Cuttlefish 2021 oil on canvas 120x160cm Congratulations to Janet Luxton who has had two …
Above image: Wayne Eager, Allegory I 2023 oil on linen 95 x 133 cm Wayne Eager was interviewed by Janet …
Image above: Marina Strocchi The vineyards of Madden’s Lane 2023 acrylic on linen 122 x 152 cm Congratulations to Kate …