The Art Gallery of South Australia’s latest exhibition – by internationally renowned photographer, Trent Parke – explores universal ideas from a deeply personal perspective. Called ‘The Black Rose’, the exhibition is neither a survey nor a retrospective but an exhibition which is a single work of art. The body of work has been produced over a seven year period and is the artist’s most complex and ambitious project to date.
The catalyst for the exhibition was a tragic incident in the artist’s past. When he was aged about twelve, he witnessed his mother die suddenly from an asthma attack. Parke said “As a result I blanked out those first twelve years of my life and much more. After sidestepping the issue for twenty-seven years, a chance incident forced my hand and I began writing and taking photographs as I sought to get those memories back”.
Comprising several hundred photographs and moving image works, ‘The Black Rose’ exhibition promises to be an immersive experience for the viewer. It represents Parke’s attempt to reclaim his own memories and delve into the bigger issues affecting us all: birth, death, pain, loss and memory. “By stripping himself bare to reveal his own imperfections, Parke pursues the bigger meaning of life and in doing so he challenges us, to reflect on our own lives,” said Nick Mitzevich, Director, Art Gallery of South Australia.
Parke is a master photographer and rarely shoots digitally, preferring the ‘magic’ of traditional means of photography. In his quest to uncover his memories of his mother and childhood, Parke photographed details of the natural world and incidents from everyday life. These took on greater significance and symbolic meaning as his project progressed and became the basis of a complex narrative. “My photography has always been about asking questions. I am on an endless quest to find out why”, says Parke.
In 2007 Parke and his photographer wife Narelle Autio and two young children swapped life in inner-city Sydney for a house by the beach in Adelaide. This move became the catalyst for ‘The Black Rose’ project, as living in Adelaide allowed Trent the time for reflection. “Over the following seven years ‘The Black Rose’ evolved into a project of epic proportions and cinematic ambition, and through it he eventually reclaimed some of those childhood memories” said Julie Robinson, Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photography, Art Gallery of South Australia.
Newcastle-born Parke, began his photographic career as a leading sports photographer – for five years he covered the tours of the Australian cricket team. By 1999 Parke had realised though, that he wanted to pursue a career as an artist and, in the fifteen years since, has created several major bodies of work, which explore Australian culture and contemporary life from his personal perspective.
Art Gallery of South Australia
Until 10 May, 2015
Adelaide
Cockatoo backyard, Newcastle, 2011, photograph
Slippery dip, Gundegal, New South Wales, 2007, photograph
Courtesy the artist, Art Gallery of South Australia and Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
