Thursday 30 November 2017

Yes.. err, No... well perhaps they're framed.

Shane framed





G'day Possums,
it's been an "ART" week: with a visit to Geelong Regional Gallery to peruse the "Archibald" finalists follow by a visit to the NGV Potter Centre to have a look at Del Kathryn Barton's big show.

Variously described as whimsical, romantic, sexual, cathartic ,sensuous, exuberant and seductive, DKB's is a big show with big works which really do whack you around a bit.

 With a wall full of flying eyes and framed graffiti faced by large psycho-sexual renderings (are they paintings?) which in their "dottiness" resemble indigenous techniques it was difficult to clearly gain a focus in this large scale cornucopia of colour and bits and things.

An extremely intense video excoriating car sales techniques was followed by some large priapic sculptural flowerings and drawings of genitalia and I left, feeling that I didn't want to know THAT much about someone's personal obsessions.

Gustav Klimt had came to mind but days later the nagging background thought of that day revealed itself. It was the illustrations in a book by Ernst Kris that I had read many years ago: "Psychoanalytic Explorations in Art".

Around the corner in the Ian Potter were works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders of a simpler verve and self-deprecating humour. Gary Namponan's "Camp Dogs" were a joy in their most basic carving and renditions of canine personality as was "We Know Where You Eat (Koala) by Pitcha Makin Fellaz, Ballarat, Victoria.

The Archie at Geelong was a much more traditional affair and the funniest, (to me) was the portrait of the retiring principal of Sydney Grammar "painted" by mosaic, each little tile made by an individual student of the school body which brought to mind Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall ",  hardly the attribution probably sought.

Andrew Bonneau's  Ayako Saito was a serene, renaissance influenced piece which seemed to repay his "direct and patient observation" and Jessica Ashton's querulously amused self portrait exposing her state at juggling so many roles, hence her daughter's tutu around her neck, as Ashton contemplates her second pregnancy as well. Both are beautifully painted, one fine, the other looser, a'la Fragonard, and very controlled.

Anh Do's wet-in-wet bravura rendition of Jack Charles is a fine penetrating work placing his subject front and centre in all his complexity and with a witty little piece of collage making reference to Judas in amongst the globules of paint.

Exhibiting in Canberra this week was more of the ruling rabbles hypocrisy writ large. The dinosaur rump of the rabble, putrid at having lost the marriage equality survey decided that it was up to them to not only organize its slowed and amended passage but to also find problems with religious freedoms where none actually exist. Screaming "Freedom, Freedom, Free to be a bigoted discriminator" Vichy Abetz, Bestiality Bernardi, Horse-shite Corman and the other minority Neanderthals also failed at this when the Senate, 42/12 voted to pass the Equality Bill and summarily rejected their "amendments." 

Unable to have a sitting and passage through the house of Reps because Truffles funked a confrontation with his rural carbuncle over banks and a poor showing in the Deep North election he refused to have the reps sit..... Ah, democracy.
Better news was then apoplectically announced that they had something big on Halal Sam Dastyari being naughty with the Chinese. Re-hashing his policy difference with his leader Willie Shortstuff and leaking from, no-one knows where, the advice Halal Sam gave, "talk-outside-they-might-be-listening," to the character, who in all likelihood would be more than aware of our spooks methodology, all of which had Bookshelves Brandarse happily ranting, raving and verily frothing at the mouth when, exhibiting a double back flip with pike and somersault, Truffles got Halal off the menu and announced a Royal Commission into the Banks just like he said he didn't want to!
"It will be a short RC but comprehensive.." said the vacillating Truffles,".. just like the banks want....not an analysis of capitalism but with the terms of reference set as  they mailed me yesterday."
Truffles has a full plate; two by-elections both seemingly going, not well, The Harpy Cash under fire...again, Bennelong going feral, more pollies coming out as dual citizens and ineligible to sit in parliament and the bush-pigs from the Nationals after Truffles ... no wonder it's called the killing season!
Hoo-roo petals,
Shane.

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