MCA Museum of Contemporary Art

Primavera 2013: Young Australian Artists

12 Sep - 17 Nov 2013

© Kusum Normoyle
Accord wit Air Tjentiste (still), 2012
Single-channel digital video, colour, sound
PRIMAVERA 2013: YOUNG AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS
12 September - 17 November 2013

This much-loved annual exhibition (turning 22 this year!) returns to our galleries with the next crop of unapologetically bold makers, thinkers and performers. Hailing from Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, the work of these eight young Australian artists will delight and fascinate.

Themes include a moving investigation of romantic and family relationships, the creation of portals into fictional realms, a look at the role of language in the shaping of (and the breaking down of) the self and the ways sound shapes our physical and emotional worlds. These ideas are presented across a range of media including painting, wall painting, sculpture, photography, installation, ceramics, digital media, sound and performance.

Many of the works are being made especially for this exhibition and represent a direct response to MCA’s Level 1 North Gallery – Thomas Jeppe’s series of paintings replicate the dimensions of the Level 2 lookout above the gallery’s entrance, Jess Johnson’s large scale painting is displayed directly on the gallery wall, Juz Kitson’s huge ceramic installation and Jacqueline Ball’s photographs appear as tunnels between different realities.

In addition to these ‘purpose built’ gallery interventions are a further four equally intriguing bodies of work –the intense sound-scapes of Kusum Normoyle, Brendan Huntley’s staged face-off between 15 quirky sculptural heads and corresponding paintings, Jackson Eaton’s romantic series of photos documenting a relationship the artist had with a young Korean woman and Heath Franco’s performance based video works, each one featuring a performance by the artist in a variety of guises.

Primavera 2013 is curated by Robert Cook, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Photography and Design at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. The exhibition features works by Jacqueline Ball (WA), Jackson Eaton (WA/VIC), Heath Franco (NSW), Brendan Huntley (VIC), Thomas Jeppe (WA/VIC), Jess Johnson (VIC), Juz Kitson (NSW) and Kusum Normoyle (NSW).

PRIMAVERA IS AN ANNUAL EXHIBITION FOR AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS AGED 35 YEARS AND UNDER. THE PRIMAVERA EXHIBITION SERIES WAS FOUNDED THROUGH THE GENEROUS BENEFACTION OF DR EDWARD JACKSON AM AND MRS CYNTHIA JACKSON AM AND THEIR FAMILY IN MEMORY OF THEIR DAUGHTER AND SISTER BELINDA.
 

Tags: Jess