The concept of ‘Out West’ is a relative experience in Australia. Perhaps it is only when one has experienced truly remote, isolated areas of Australia – the inland desert regions – that the concept of the ‘Wild Wild West’ holds real meaning.
Jo Bertini’s paintings are an investigation into people and place, gender roles and the transformative nature of the Australian landscape. They offer an alternative version to the predominantly archived, non-indigenous (western), male history and vision of the desert landscape genre. They investigate neglected concepts from the perspective of the ‘Female Explorer’, ‘Frontiers Woman’ and pay homage to women whose lives have been irrevocably linked with country usually perceived as male terrain. The female ‘Wild Wild West’ is still a visually under described landscape.
Cowra Regional Art Gallery
11 October to 16 November, 2014
New South Wales
Dryland & Bloodwood, 2014, oil on canvas, 112 x 122cm
Courtesy the artist and Olsen Irwin, Sydney
Photography: Sowerby Smith