Fresh Materials : New Australian Textile Art
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
Exhibition dates: 10 December 2021 - 6 February 2022
Textile-based art has been enjoying a renaissance after decades of being derided, ignored or ghettoised for being ‘craft’ or ‘Women’s work’, both terms of which are dismissive artworld shorthand for ‘not art’. Contemporary artists have been reinstating the importance of textiles by way of incredible force and ingenuity, and perhaps most importantly, an intelligent and methodical dismantling of established art world ‘rules’, as clung to by the boy’s club of 20th century painting. Thus textile-based art becomes a powerful and accessible agent in the examination of identity, society and politics. Textiles have grown to command a significant following, offering its own complex and distinctive lexicon, as capable of expression, nuance and polemic as any other media. This exhibition begins by taking textiles’ artistic legitimacy for granted, a point proven many times over throughout its long history, bringing together some of the best and brightest artists working in Australia today.
Featuring the work of Julie Bradley, Regi Cherini, Leah Emery, Marion Gaemers & Lynnette Griffiths, Emma Gardner, Hannah Gartside, Julia Gutman, Vivien Haley, Michelle Hamer, Talitha Kennedy, Sheree Kinlyside, Nicole O’Loughlin, Susan Peters Nampitjin, Ema Shin, Hiromi Tango, Sonia Ward, Jenny Watson, Paul Yore, Troy-Anthony Baylis and India Collins.
Curated by Jonathan McBurnie.
Fountain of Life
My work is inspired by the evolution of art and craft, changing attitudes to craftsmanship and how work is valued in relation to gender. Referencing historical works/methods such as painting, tapestry, ready mades, my aim is to reflect on the history of craftsmanship and the role of artists as social commentator. The time-consuming process of sewing the tapestry, was cause to reflect on the history of tapestries, valued as status symbols amongst the aristocracy in the Middle Ages and in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Church. Once valued, how do we regard these labour-intensive processes today?
