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february 28 - march 18

Savages

by Kirsten Lyttle

Savages is a whimsical yet thought-provoking series of digital prints that challenges the viewer’s preconceptions about race and identity.  Based on 19^th Century lithographs of Maori by Western ethnographers, Kirsten Lyttle has constructed highly artificial dioramas where the “noble savage” Maori have been disconcertingly replaced by Chico jelly babies with the smiling black faces associated with golliwogs and “black mammy” dolls.

The work reflects a playful tension between philosophical discourse on racial stereotypes, and personal experience as a woman of both Maori and Anglo-Celtic heritage, raised by an adopted white family – growing up in New Zealand and then Australia, she remembers being called “Chico” in Australian school playgrounds.

In stark contrast with the low-tech construction and engaging appeal of the Chico narrative, the work has been meticulously researched to ensure no Tapu or scared images of Maori were used in the series; the work is not a comment on the Maori themselves, but a statement about the ethnographers who misappropriated Maori and Tapu imagery and projected their own assumptions on to the otherness they perceived.

second step

by Bundit Puangthong

Bundit Puangthong’s work is an amalgamation of his traditional Thai art training and his western based art practice. 

Having recently completed a Masters Degree in Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts, Puangthong has been able to explore, in depth, the cultural differences between Thailand and Australia, particularly in relation to the notion of art training and its perceived status.

These paintings explore, with humour and sensitivity, the cultural differences experienced by Puangthong since his arrival to Australia in 2001.   Using a range of techniques from stencils to detailed brushwork highlights his talent as a painter.  His evocative use of colour, text and traditional Thai iconography reveal Puangthong as a keen observer with sharp wit.

Pulsating with colour and energy, Puangthong’s work celebrates and expands the rich cross cultural dialogue present in Melbourne’s contemporary identity.

filtered

by Daniel Gorzadek

Daniel Gorzadek’s recent body of work explores the cult of celebrity.  Taking scenes from popular Hollywood films, Gorzadek breaks up well known narratives and reconstructs them displaced from their original environment.

Gorzadek depicts contemporary images yet presents them using a traditional medium. The scenes are meticulously rendered in oil paint, timelessly caught on prepared linen.

In today’s Age of Celebrity, Gorzadek has filtered out what could be considered the superfluous information of popular film. Missing are the plot, the timeframe, the ambience and script. The canvas is left with contour maps of pure fame.