On Vulnerability and Doubt

On Vulnerability and Doubt brings together artists whose works variously engage with questions of vulnerability and doubt, intimacy and desire, shame, love and awkwardness, through various mediums including painting, printmaking, sculpture, performative photography and video. Exploring the role of doubt, and the story of the Doubting Thomas, the exhibition also considers the significance and primacy of feeling over or alongside the visual, and the critical role of humour, “the minor” and “otherwise” in relation to figures of authority. On Vulnerability and Doubt also embraces the complexities that artists have about putting themselves and their work on display, and the bringing down of one’s guard in the face of vulnerability and humour.

Questions of vulnerability and doubt—aligned with a sceptical attitude to patriarchy, state power and institutions—have enjoyed widespread expression and affect recently in public and academic contexts. On Vulnerability and Doubt also engages with what might be understood as the realm of feelings, emotions and an affective dimension in the production and appreciation of contemporary art practice. These subjective terms not only relate to the position of the artist, but equally transfer to the spectator, to the reception of the work, to the capacity that art has to touch, move, motivate and mobilise us as viewers.

Featuring new work, alongside significant existing projects, the exhibition is curated by ACCA’s Artistic Director Max Delany and features Australian and international artists Andrea Büttner, Cherine Fahd, Brent Harris, Tala Madani, Linda Marrinon, Archie Moore, Charlie Sofo and Ambera Wellmann.

A 96-page publication accompanies the exhibition, edited by Max Delany and Miriam Kelly, featuring artists’ works and accompanying essays and texts by Justin Clemens, Max Delany, Julie Ewington, Miriam Kelly, Annika Kristensen and Amelia Winata.