Mona explores the evolved, biological underpinnings of status – what is it for, and why is it useful?
Namedropping features some 200 artworks and objects – from cricket bats to coffins to cars, Ming to the Impressionists, fashion and a funfair, antiquity to now – highlighting how status signals, including art, brands, allegiance and association, are used as tools for selecting sexual partners and social allies, and what this means in the contemporary world. Artists include Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Ned Kelly, Vincent Namatjira, Pablo Picasso, Chopper Read, and Andy Warhol (to namedrop a few).
Jenny Holzer, Untitled, from the ‘Living’ series, 1980–82, enamel on metal, 53.5 × 58.5cm. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. © the artist. Courtesy the artist, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra and Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania
Mona, Museum of Old and New Art
15 June 2024 to 21 April 2025
Tasmania
