Barbara Cleveland’s practice draws on the historical lineages of both the visual and performing arts. Thinking Business presents a suite of videos, photographs and prints from the art collective’s archive.
The exhibition takes its title from author Hannah Arendt’s description of her friendship with Mary McCarthy. As Arendt wrote, “it’s not that we think so much alike, but that we do this thinking-business for and with each other.” Describing the shared intellectual and creative pursuit between women, the term became a way for Barbara Cleveland to conceptualise and affirm their long-term collaboration and the body of work they had amassed since 2007. In turn, Thinking Business speaks not only to the collective’s unique mode of working together but, equally, to the larger thematics of female friendship, collaboration and artistic labour.
Barbara Cleveland, Performance Art (15 Actions for the Face) (still), 2009, dual-channel video, 15:35 minutes. Courtesy the artists and Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
Barbara Cleveland, The One Hour Laugh (still), 2009, single-channel HD video, 60.00 minutes. Courtesy the artists and Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
The Condensery
18 February to 30 April 2023
Queensland
A Goulburn Regional Art Gallery and Museums & Galleries of NSW Touring Exhibition.
