Access gallery
Left to right: Temperance, 2005, (detail), photographic collage on paper, 235x150cm; Hope, 2006, (detail), photographic collage on paper, 235x150cm
Transcriptions
Joan Harris
30 January - 24 February 2013
The images in this exhibition are part of a more extensive body of work created for my recently completed PhD. The works are representative of my investigation of ‘transcription’, a practice which in the visual arts involves the reinventing of works of art that already exist. I have discovered that for me the process of transcription, mainly through drawing, painting and collage, is an invaluable resource for expanding my vocabulary of pictorial language as well as being a catalyst for the invention and development of new imagery of my own.
As part of my doctoral research I spent a year overseas where I was able to study, in situ, specific iconic works of the past to which I am particularly attracted. The works in this exhibition were made in response to the paintings of three Italian masters, that is: The Seven Virtues (ca.1470) by Botticelli and Pollaiuolo, and The Seven Virtues and corresponding Seven Vices (ca.1305) by Giotto. Pollaiuolo and Botticelli’s paintings are housed in the Uffizi Museum in Florence and Giotto’s frescoes are located in the Arena Chapel, Padua.
These transcriptions reflect my interest in the cultural basis of artistic imagery in its symbolic language — ways in which past artists have depicted virtue and vice, good and evil, beauty and ugliness intrigues me. I am also interested in the expressive and psychological possibilities of the single figure. Old master representations of the single figure as well as works by contemporary artists such as Euan Uglow, David Hockney, Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun have all been influential.
The collages also reflect my enjoyment of costumes, make-up, elaborate adornment and various artifacts. My fascination with the theatrical, the decorative and the ornate and my speculations about the perception of beauty are themes that I have pursued with enthusiasm throughout the various stages of my project in both the studio and in the documentation for my doctoral exegesis.
I am a Bendigo based artist having moved from Melbourne to Bendigo five years ago. This is my first exhibition since the completion of my PhD in 2012 (A Studio Investigation of Transcription for the Formal Development of Figure Painting - Monash University, Caulfield). As part of my studies I had a six month studio residency in a small town in Tuscany as well as a further three months in Florence and its’ surrounds; I also spent time in the U.K. and Spain. I will be returning to Italy for six months later this year where I plan to explore a new range of possibilities for the next stage of my studio practice.
Joan Harris
Exhibiting at the Visual Arts Centre
Please note that the exhibition calendar for the VAC Gallery for 2014 has been finalised and applications are not being invited this year.
NOW CALLING FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR THE ACCESS GALLERY
Applications close on Thursday 28 March 2013
