Roslyn Oxley9

Linda Marrinon

16 Jun - 09 Jul 2011

© Linda Marrinon
Installation view, 2011
LINDA MARRINON
Figure Sculpture
16 June – 9 July, 2011

Voltaire rubs shoulders with MC Hammer in Linda Marrinon’s latest exhibition of figure sculptures. In their midst stands a short painter, an androgynous cosmonaut, and a defeated serf. Marrinon’s pantheon has an aura of timelessness as each character confidently inhabits their particular historical moment. The figures are Classical in spirit (and in presentation), but playfully inaccurate anatomically, undermining the traditional pursuit of academic sculpture. Initially formed from clay, Marrinon is careful to preserve in the raw, ‘handmade-ness’ of the original in her plaster and bronze casts. Accessories and plaster-soaked muslin details are added at the end, dressing the figures with character: a poncho, a bracelet, a handbag strap. Finger marks are features and roughly textured areas provide form. These are painterly sculptures. Indeed, Marrinon’s skill as a painter and caricaturist is brought to her work in sculpture. Postures and poses are exaggerated or simplified to capture the essence of an individual, the spirit of a time.

Olivia Sophia

Linda Marrinon has been exhibiting with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery since 1983. She has been the subject of major survey shows at The Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne and The Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Marrinon has been included in numerous group exhibitions including, ‘Australian Perspecta’ (1983 and 1999), ‘Word’ (1999) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, ‘Lost and Found: the TarraWarra Biennale of Art’ (2009) curated by Charlotte Day and ‘Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2009). Marrinon’s paintings and sculptures are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney as well as numerous private and corporate collections. In 2001, Marrinon was a recipient of the prestigious Samstag Fellowship which permitted her to study at the New York Academy of Art. In 2008 Chris McAuliffe authored an important monograph on Marrinon’s work, ‘Let Her Try’, published by Craftsman House. Figure Sculpture 2011 is Marrinon’s 9th solo exhibition with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
 

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