AROUND THE GALLERIES Dan Rule
Published: The Age, A2, August 21, 2010.
WHAT Polly Borland: Smudge
WHERE Murray White Room, Sargood Lane (off Exhibition Street, between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane), city, 9663 3204, murraywhiteroom.com
There’s an alluring polarity to Polly Borland’s portraiture. One of only eight photographers to be invited to photograph the Queen on her Golden Jubilee, the celebrated Melbourne-raised, London-based photographer’s work oscillates between a direct, unabashed intimacy and an unhinged, mildly grotesque performative quality that seems to both defy and accentuate its evocation of subject. This beguiling new series of works seems to take its cues from notions of beauty and sexuality. Across 31 photographs and five tapestry recreations (crafted by prison inmates), Smudge blurs gender delineations as much as it complicates definitions of beauty. Pink protuberances jut from curtains of a glossy wig; stockings cover faces, make-up smeared on the outside. A common motif is that of the synthetic and augmented body. A man sports a flowing, rainbow-coloured wig, balloon-like fake breasts almost bursting through fabric of his top; another sports a skin-coloured muscle vest; golf balls fashion dramatic lumps under a full body stocking. It’s funny, playful and disturbing all at once, as if a reflection on the hilarious absurdity and the tragedy of our quest for beauty at all costs. But Borland’s work isn’t so cut and dry. Indeed, on another plane, Smudge reads like an insight into others’ fantasy selves. Borland’s subjects are malleable, undefined and only limited by imagination. Tues to Fri 11am–6pm, Sat noon–4pm, until September 11.
WHAT Robin Fox: Proof of Concept
WHERE Centre for Contemporary Photography, 404 George Street, Fitzroy, 9417 1549, ccp.org.au
Renowned sound and visual artist Robin Fox’s live Laser Show has become a visceral staple on the Melbourne experimental music circuit. Using digitally synthesised sound and an oscilloscope to power and manipulate a laser, his spectacular performances represent a genuine mergence of the sound and image. Proof of Concept is an apt title for this striking exhibition of still photographs of Fox’s laser in motion. Indeed, this suite of large-scale prints captures a level of complexity, detail and minutiae imperceptible during one of Fox’s break-neck live performances. While there’s certainly an almost scientific fascination to these works, what makes them so effective is their incredible, often beautiful graphic quality. These works bear silent witness to Fox’s thunderous synthesis of sound and vision. Wed to Fri 11am–6pm, Sat to Sun noon–5pm, until September 25.
WHAT Gestures & Procedures
WHERE Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 111 Sturt Street, Southbank, 9697 9999, accaonline.org.au
As its title alludes, Gestures & Procedures hones its focus on recurrent action and effect. Featuring over twenty artists, spanning decades and continents, this extensive show proves a homage to practice; the at times poetic, at times powerful outcomes artists can achieve via simple, sustained actions. There are some definite standouts. Veteran Australian artist Mike Parr’s early 70s endurance works Hold your breath for as long as possible and Hold your finger in a candle flame for as long as possible are gruelling, yet enthralling to witness, while Lucy Gunnings’ incredible 1993 work Climbing Around My Room – which sees the artist gradually scale the circumference of her four bedroom walls without ever touching the floor – becomes a thrilling study of physical and tactical capabilities. Other highlights include a work by Swiss artist Delpine Reist and young Australian artist Beth Arnold’s Discarded Object Poster Project. But perhaps most strangely captivating work is Belgian artist Francis Alys’s documentary Paradox of Praxis 1, in which he pushes a large block of ice through the streets of Mexico City until it gradually melts away to a puddle on the footpath. It seems a stunningly poetic allegory for the futile realities of labour. As the film’s title articulates: “Sometimes making something leads to nothing.” Tues to Fri 10am–5pm, Sat to Sun 11am–6pm
WHAT Carla Cescon, Tony Garifalakis, Simon Scheuerle: Bela Lugosi’s Dead
WHERE Death Be Kind, Upstairs at The Alderman, 134 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, 0401 346 520, deathbekind.com
Claire Lambe and Elvis Richardson’s new Brunswick East gallery space Death Be Kind continues its ghoulish induction with this ode to the aesthetics of horror. A reference to the Hungarian actor famous for playing Count Dracula, Bela Lugosi’s Dead sees its three artists playfully tackle various horror archetypes. Tony Garifalakis’s pair of inverted crucifix wall drawings, made with stretched VHS tape of cassettes from The Exorcist series, are a fantastically creepy negotiation of the theme, while Simon Scheuerles little shop of horrors – which includes a life-sized, levitating, god-like figure, a diamante-encrusted ticking time bomb and a collection of severed human ears is a macabre joy. Fri 6pm–8pm, Sat to Sun 2pm–6pm, until August 29.
