Modern and Contemporary Art Australia: Primavera 2022 — Young Australian Artists
Primavera 2022 — Young Australian Artists showcased six works created by six emerging celebrities endorsed by Modern and Contemporary Art Australia. The works displayed in the exhibition are portraits of the artists. Through the artworks, viewers can get to know the stories of each artist and infer unaddressed narratives through visual cues. As the exhibition only shows a single work of each artist, viewers are encouraged to learn the complete story about each artist at the museum’s website. The main purpose of the show is to introduce sponsors to the rising stars, so they can choose to financially support the artist of their choice. Remembering the artists who are featured in the show is highly recommended to readers who are interested in contemporary art, as they are currently in demand, and will eventually become big names in the art world in the next 5–10 years. Big names mean showering with accolades and solo exhibitions at world-class art institutions.
Three Artists on Spotlight
Julia Gutman
Assembled from fabrics donated by her friends and family, the patchwork is similar to her self-portrait. The artist compares herself to her artwork, stating that she is made from people who are close to her and who she engages with. She emphasizes the importance of keeping relationships by incorporating people who are close to her into her artistic practice. However, the artwork suggests that she has an abusive relationship with them, who refuse to interact with her sincerely and are even willing to impregnate her.
Julia Gutman is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working on Gadigal land. She re-uses found textiles to produce ‘patchworks’ that merge personal and collective histories to explore themes of femininity, intimacy, and memory.
Amrita Hepi
In the interactive installation, the artist incorporates a green screen and motion capture technology to reveal the uncomfortable truth of modern society. The artwork enables viewers to perceive modern society as an iceberg. The top part that emerged above the water is the prevalent social phenomena of monitoring, which is simulated in the artwork, and submerged under the water is the order that maintains the unfair power structure of the social system
Themes
1. premise: modern society is a panopticon
To understand the artwork, knowing the premise of modern society is a must. Modern society is similar to Panopticon, a circular-shaped prison where guards at the center monitor prisoners locked in rooms built around the edge of circumference. Prison guards, people of power, are eligible of monitoring and tracking prisoners, people of lesser power. Prison guards are the few authorities who are informed of common sense, have secure necessities of life, high social standing, and wealth. Prisoners are the majority and comparatively less in power than the guards. The power structure is set according to past behaviors that reflect ethical standards. Prisoners are encouraged to obey rules set by the authority to secure their rewards and avoid punishment.
An award-winning artist. Hepi engages in practice concerned with dance as a social function performed within galleries, performance spaces, video art, and digital technologies. She engages in forms of historical fiction and hybrid — especially those that arise under empire — to investigate the body’s relationship to personal histories and archives. Amrita is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Katie West
In the two-channel film, I love you my baby, you are my first born (2020–2021), the Yindjibarnd artist explores inter-generational trauma and the ongoing effects of the Stolen Generations. To associate the colonized land with her wounds of familiar history, the artist returned to Ngarluma Country, her ancestral land, to film this work. Taking place at a shoreline at sunset, the film shows the artist collecting driftwood, observing the shifting tide, and marking her footprint on the mudflats.
Katie West is an artist and Yindjibarndi woman based in Noongar Ballardong Country, working in installation, textiles, and social practice. The process and notion of naturally dyeing fabric underpin her practice — the rhythm of walking, gathering, bundling, boiling up water, and infusing materials with plant matter.
Thank you for reading the shortened version of the article. It is the second article of contemporary art chapter in the comprehensive study on Australian Art. The study is divided into three chapters according to era: classical, modern and contemporary. To read the complete article, and view the complete list of the articles within the study, please direct to the linked articles.
Modern and Contemporary Art Australia: Primavera 2022 — Young Australian Artists
Australian Art: from Classical Antiquity to Contemporary Emerging Talents
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