From Sharne Wolff…
Janis II is the second incarnation of a project that kicked off earlier this year to promote the artistic practice of Australian women artists. Kelly Doley, artist and founding member of performance group Brown Council, instigated the project and on this occasion she is co-curator with Amanda Rowell. Janis II focuses on a diverse range of female art practice that includes writing, performance, curatorial and art projects from artists of varying backgrounds and experience. The show is hosted simultaneously at two Galleries within walking distance – MCLEMOI Gallery and The Commercial. Fittingly, women also run both galleries.
None of the artists included in the show have commercial gallery representation so it’s a chance for Bonita Bub, Jenny Christmann (1929-2005), Sarah Goffman, Gail Hastings and Sarah Rodigari to have their work exposed to new and larger audiences. The curators have selected artists whose work explores ‘physical and interpersonal space’ within an expansive meaning of those terms. Rodigari opened the show last week with her performance of Act Natural. Bub’s large-scale sculptures painted in fluoro colours occupy a place where architecture meets art while Hastings engineered ‘sculptuations’ clearly require a new category of description. Under recognised artist Jenny Christmann emphasised humour and humble materials in her Dadaesque installations, some of which include commercial cigarette packets, now almost obsolete. Goffman’s obsession with discarded materials sees her transform objects once regarded as rubbish into elegant installations that possess an organic form of beauty.
Until August 17
MCLEMOI Gallery, Chippendale & The Commercial, Redfern
Pic: Sarah Goffman, Black and Gold, 2012, acrylic and enamel on PET, 63 pieces, variable sizes (highest 40cm) (detail). Image courtesy the artist, The Commercial Gallery and MCLEMOI Gallery, Sydney.
