From Carrie Miller…
‘I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore’ is the final in a trilogy of shows on ‘Death’, curated by artist Fiona Davies. This time the starting point for the artists in the show is an engagement with the body – a somewhat creepy idea given the state of it in this exhibition. But as these series of works demonstrate, how we negotiate relationships with the bodies of the deceased is a fascinating, even beautiful subject.
A number of interesting local artists, including Marian Abboud, David Capra and Abdullah Syed, confront the inevitable in a variety of ways. David Capra’s video works, for example, involve the artist performing acts of Intercession on behalf of the departed, including speaking in tongues, banner waving, praying, and dancing badly, all in an outfit that includes tight white tights. These series of actions are performed both at a public pool alongside bathers and next to an Anzac statue in spiritual concert with the war hero. In typical Capra fashion, what sounds like bad camp or parody is in fact a sincere, entirely human, gesture of care that embodies the awkwardly comic nature of our existence and the simultaneous futile yet necessary drive to give it meaning, even after it’s all over.
Until 9 September
Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta
Pic: Courtesy the artist & Parramatta Artists Studios.
