Stagecraft brings together silkscreen collages on fabric, tapestries and film by Ballarat-born artist David Noonan. Renowned for repurposing found photographs, Noonan uses images from his personal archive to create ambiguous works, often with a focus on a solitary haunting figure. Noonan creates new compositions using black and white images appropriated from sources including magazines relating to avant-garde theatre, film, design, architecture, dance and music. Documentary images transform into fiction, suggesting the significance of theatricality and performance in the public realm. The combination of imagery creates a tension between abstraction and representation, and as a result, between truth and illusion.

This exhibition was part of PHOTO 2021’s expanded program and can now be viewed online on the venue’s website.