13 October–17 December 2011
Monash University Museum of Art
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
Open:
Tues–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat 12–5pm
T +61 3 9905 4217
[email protected]
A Different Temporality: Aspects of Australian Feminist Art Practice 1975–1985 brings together feminist approaches to temporality in the visual arts, with a focus on late 1970s and early 1980s Australia. Rather than an encyclopaedic summation of feminist practice at that time, selected works reflect prevalent debates and modes of practice; with a focus upon the dematerialisation of the art object, the role of film theory, and the adoption of diaristic and durational modes of practice, including performance, photography and film.
Spanning a decade within two decades, and marking a significant time for feminist art practice in Australia, A Different Temporality presents a materially and politically diverse selection of works by selected artists that engage with temporality as both metaphor and subject. Whilst their respective works may not openly exemplify an overriding logic, their durational emphasis brings together feminist approaches to history and experience, as well as conceptual investigations of cinematic time and montage, ephemerality and event, repetition and flow—forms and ideas which continue to resonate in the present.
Presenting the work of Micky Allan, Janet Burchill and Jennifer McCamley, Bonita Ely, Sue Ford, Helen Grace, Lyndal Jones and Jenny Watson, A Different Temporality continues MUMA’s commitment to considering the recent history of contemporary art since the 1960s and is presented in association with the 2011 Melbourne Festival and with the support of The Gordon Darling Foundation.
Performative Philosophy: The films and writings of Chris Kraus and Semiotext(e) presents Kraus’ work as a film-maker, writer and co-editor of Semiotext(e). The exhibition comprises films, video, books, scripts, posters, prints and production notes to encompass the poetic force of Kraus’ filmmaking and her unique and inventive voice that moves through art, fiction, feminism, politics and the many spheres of cultural production.
In her most recent book Where Art Belongs, Kraus argues that the ‘art world remains the last frontier for the desire to live differently’. Her activity within this world for nearly three decades includes an experimental film career, culminating with the feature-length Gravity and Grace, 1995; an ongoing editorial role at Semiotext(e) and her introduction of the ‘Native Agents’ fiction series; three novels, with another forthcoming in 2012; and two books of expanded art criticism including the recently published Where Art Belongs 2011.
In 2011, the New York Times described Kraus as ‘one of our smartest and most original writers on contemporary art and culture’; and her novel I Love Dick was cited by Frieze magazine as one of the most important books of the past two decades.
Additional to Kraus’ films, Performative Philosophy presents a selection of films from authors published by Semiotext(e), including Guy Debord, David Wojnarowic, Sylvére Lotringer, Penny Arcade, Gary Indiana, Frances Scholz, Mark von Schlegell and Bernadette Corporation. The exhibition locates Kraus as the thread between these artists, writers and philosophers, who she has plaited together to give an account of a prolific history of ideas, images and language.
Catalogues for the above exhibitions are available now at MUMA or on our online shop: aireys.its.monash.edu.au/gen/categories.asp?cID=53&c=144940