This summer, Hobart’s Mona, Museum of Old and New Art opens with two new blockbuster exhibitions by international artists that ‘represent polarities of psyche – desperate intensity versus methodical repose, but I interpret the artistic processes of each as more than the typical drive to create. These guys are driven to understand. To me, that means they belong at Mona,’ says David Walsh, Mona owner and founder, referring to ‘Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams’ and ‘Prototypes of Speculative Engineering’ by French artist Jean-Luc Moulène and British artist James Capper, respectively. On show from 17 December* to 9 May 2022.
Jean-Luc Moulène, Axe (Axis), 2016. Photograph: Francisco Kochen. Courtesy the artist, Galerie Pietro Spartà, Chagny and Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania
Curated by Michel Blancsubé with Trudi Brinckman, and commissioned by Olivier Varenne, ‘Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams’ examines the relationships between material, form and the creative process; between art and industry; between artwork and observer. Four new sculptural works, made from wax, metal, Triassic sandstone and timber from primeval Tasmanian underwater forests known as HydroWood accompany loaned works; Errata (2002-13), comprising nine stacked pallets with brightly coloured cans; Axe (Axis) (2016) with bone wedged between steel props; and Les Trois Grâces (The Three Graces) (2013), a video projection showing three nudes, demonstrating Moulène’s extensive range across diverse mediums.
‘Prototypes of Speculative Engineering’, curated by Jarrod Rawlins and Emma Pike, combines Capper’s interests in mechanical engineering, industrial design and evolutionary biology. Created with industrially coated steel and hydraulic systems, HYDRA STEP (2014) and HYDRA SHUFFLE II (2014) evoke the evolutionary shift when life moved from water to land. These insect-and-digging-machine hybrids explore crossovers between biological and mechanical processes
and consider humanity’s use of extractive practices.
*‘Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams’ exhibition start TBC, while ‘Prototypes of Speculative Engineering’ begins 17 December 2021. Check Mona’s website for updates.
