NO KING is an exhibition of signs and photographs by Richard Tipping currently showing at ArtHere in Redfern, Sydney.
Tipping takes his imagery, text, and forms from classic Australian road signs. Playing with this familiarity, he cleverly flips the associated meanings of the words and symbols into direct and provocative statements that challenge hierarchal structures of English royalty. By doing this, he addresses public language of the street, and using unexpected poetic interventions, extends our experience of public space to new, metaphorical meanings.
The works engage us through many levels – as everyday objects with unexpected alterations, we can read the text with a personal perspective, or imagine it’s implications on broader society when placed into the public domain, as it would be in it’s original form.
In No King, Tipping has cleverly managed to make a witty, ironic, and amusing collection of work drawn from everyday experience, while also directly commenting on Australia’s current political climate.
ArtHere
Until October 27
Sydney
Image Captions:
NO KING, 2012, Digital archival print, edition of 21, 31 x 53cm
REDUCE NEED, 2012, Reflective tape on boxed edge steel sheet, edition of 12, 60 x 90cm
