A progressive and overlapping show in which groups of
artists come and go, overlap and then replace each other in a series of
generational occupations of this unique architectural space on Parramatta Rd in
Leichardt. One of the curatorial ideas brought out in the show is encapsulated
in its whimsical titling – it is ‘feral’ as it arises out of a similarity in pronunciation
with ‘fair isle’ – a type of cosy Scottish knitting (and the title of the 2014
show). So, like a wolf in a hand knitted vest, many of the artists interrogate
the tension between a transgressive or surprising element clothed within a familiar
domesticity, resulting in works that meld these dualistic Feral/Fair Isle tendencies, using a wide range of media and spatial
approaches.
Starting in the middle with FERAL 3. At last Friday’s opening night a crowd had spilled onto
the pavement, but pushing in through the heat and crowd runs you right in to a
confrontation with Veronica Habib’s work, I
Love What You Have Done With Your Hair consisting of suspended female
underwear. In a reversal of expectation, the lingerie wears hair – long, strands
of unruly human hair – emerging from places on the female body it is usually
banished from social sight. It is an elegant statement that raises issues of social
expectation, hygiene, taboo and conformity, underlied by a sense of wry fragility
and humour. Veronica talked about adding more hair as the show progressed. A keen
sense of ironic commentary also underpins a second work in the show, Doubling in which Veronica Habib is used
as a pseudonym by another artist, Melissa Maree. Circular holes are carefully
cut out from two ‘doubled’ McDonalds-issued work shirts and the cutout circle
forms appear, confetti-like on the floor beneath. The circle as symbol of
repetition and routine suggests the serial monotony of menial work. Mel
explains, “the cutting of the uniforms
served to create holes to acknowledge the space outside of the uniform”.[i]
Undulating on the floor beyond is Sue Callanan’s work, In the space of a breath: device for
circulating air. This piece is activated by its occupation as performance
by the artist during Friday opening nights. The ducting is, again, a familiar
form whose function is transformed. Insinuating herself within the confined
ducting, Sue’s body movements within cause the green, shiny form to pulse and undulate
in a slow organic dance that is quite mesmerising – particularly when viewed
from above. The moving form evokes the interactions of human activity within built
space.
Marta Ferracin exhibited in the Feral 2 show, and her works also
have this quality, of enshrining the domestic. In Domestic totem brightly coloured scouring pads placed on white
gallery walls are reconfigured three-dimensional paintings. In a keen
attentiveness to the space of the gallery site they are also seen between stair
treads, curiously animating the physical flow of the show as well as the space
of the site. In another engagement the scourer pads take on the energy of
animated character vigorously engaging with another artist’s work.
This leads to another element to the exhibition – its call
for experimental responsiveness to site as well as toward other participants. 497
Parramatta Rd Leichardt had a previous life as a smash repair workshop. Within
the gridded trusses, exposed beams and elongated ex-mechanic’s space artworks
nestle, hang, project and declare themselves in relation to the structurally
defined interior.
Helen L Sturgess has a suspended work consisting of cascading
flesh pink tulle, which utilises the verticality of the double storey drop to dramatically
insert this delicate, feminine fabric and its distinctly bridal connotations
into the brutal brick and concrete gallery space. The material contrasts between pink tulle, Mel’s holey McDonalds
shirts, and Nicole’s re-contextualized striped fabric also allude to a feminist
dialogue activating the multiple and loaded meanings of materials.
The colour blue as a saturated screen-blue, derived by
digital projection rather than pigment is an ephemeral yet the memorable aspect
of Jannah Quill’s work, Virtual Bricks:
Amplification of a Blue Space x 4. Its blue rectangular virtual form hovers
just above floor level, close to the tangle of wires that feed it. Jannah talked
about choosing this low position deliberately as it is at once a frustration of
the traditional hang as well as an emphasis on its connections.
Glimpsed from below Julian Woods’ video work, Spirit: Life through Breath is
fragmented by the triangular interstices of the exposed roof trusses. The slow,
rhythmic expansion and contraction of the black and white balloon-like image is
timed to the exhalation of our own breath in a curious episode of
self-awareness of oneself as a viewer in the state of viewing. Bianca Burns’
abstract painting Spatial Study No.2 includes
a tilted plane which projects into the gallery space however the placement of
the work with its restrained palette within the site enables a new space to be
activated in which architectural features echo the edge of the canvas and the
painted linearity within.