Curated by Lisa Jones and Mary Faith, ‘An Empire of Things’ features Australian artists: Tony Albert, Tom Carment, Vivian Cooper Smith, Phil Drummond, Sarah Goffman, Harley Ives, Nigel Milsom, Margaret Preston, Margaret Olley, Jude Rae, Anthony Springford, Robyn Stacey and Ken + Julia Yonetani. This exhibition of 25 works responds to ideas about still life from environmental degradation to the pervasive influence of technology on everyday life.
Robyn Stacey, Rouse and the Cumberland Plain, 2011, Type C print, print size 110 x 185cm, edition 1 of 5 + 3 AP. Courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
‘The incredible variety of still life practices on display demonstrates the continuing relevance and power of a genre that was once considered frivolous. Through still life, the banal rituals and trappings of everyday life are put on show within the ‘higher’ discourses of culture, and we are asked to slow down the way we look, and re-evaluate the familiar in a new, critical light.’ – From the catalogue essay by Dr Jaime Tsai, 2018
Tom Carment, Office typewriter, 2016, oil on linen on ply, 49 x 51cm. Courtesy the Artist and King on William Gallery, Sydney
Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
19 April to 26 May, 2018
Sydney
