guide
Women artists—activism, archives, and ambiguity
by Maggie Finch
There is an inherent questioning of truths in the work of many of the women artists exhibiting in PHOTO 2021, who are living and working in the wake, or the afterglow, of second-wave feminism. Truths have been critiqued, dismantled, laid bare—from gender and sexuality to the personal and identity, to the body, to race and history, to social status and the politics of representation, to information and archives, to community, to humour, to photographic technique and the image itself. Sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly.
The work of feminist photographer Ruth Maddison, spanning from the 1970s to today, is the focus of an exhibition including early hand-coloured photographs, documentary portraits of women at work, as well as recent interventions into family archives. Pat Brassington, whose work shows the enduring influence of psychoanalysis, surrealism and feminism, is presenting a new body of her fleshy, abstract photomontages. Ann Shelton continues her research-based practice drawing on constructions of histories and feminisms with her investigation into the life of the nineteenth-century ‘mercurial figure’ Lola Montez, with a contemporary analysis of Montez’s use of photography for self-promotion. And a complex, idiosyncratic, and, at times tragicomic, view of Australian life today is depicted in the major survey of multi-disciplinary artist Destiny Deacon, a descendant of the Kuku and Erub/Mer people from Far North Queensland and Torres Strait.
These artists are not solely concerned with feminism and gender politics—nor is that the case in a broader discussion of women artists exhibiting at PHOTO 2021. Each artist has a unique circumstance which must be considered. Through these exhibitions, however, we can celebrate the ways in which women working with photography continue, together, to have a profound impact on art histories—through persistent questioning of the status quo, through gentle and fervent agitation, through the revision of archives, and, perhaps most significantly, through the insertion of diverse ideas and experiences. The presentation of these shows acts as a reminder, too, of the continued responsibility within the arts community to uncover and restore the voices of previously overlooked artists (including those identifying as LGBTQ+) from photography’s beginnings.
—Maggie Finch, Curator, Photography, National Gallery of Victoria
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Ruth Maddison (AU)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
26 February 2021 - 18 April 2021
Centre for Contemporary Photography
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Pat Brassington (AU)
Night Swimming
2 February 2021 - 6 March 2021
ARC ONE Gallery
[Free, Exhibitions, Outdoor, Premiere]
Ann Shelton (NZ)
an invitation to dance
Royal Botanic Gardens, Anzac Station precinct, Metro Tunnel Creative Program
[Free, Exhibitions, Online]
Destiny Deacon (AU)
DESTINY
The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia
[Free, Exhibitions, Outdoor, Premiere]
Eliza Hutchison (AU)
Just wanted you to know
18 February 2021 - 7 March 2021
Parliament of Victoria (outdoor)
[Free, Exhibitions, Outdoor, Premiere]
Hayley Millar-Baker (AU)
I Will Survive
18 February 2021 - 7 March 2021
State Library Victoria Forecourt (outdoor)
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Hayley Millar-Baker (AU)
I Will Survive
10 February 2021 - 6 March 2021
State Library Victoria Forecourt (outdoor), Vivien Anderson Gallery
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Atong Atem (SS/AU)
Monstera Obliqua
6 February 2021 - 7 March 2021
MARS Gallery
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Georgina Cue (AU)
Pictures
5 February 2021 - 6 March 2021
Gertrude Glasshouse
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor]
Eye to Eye
4 February 2021 - 20 March 2021
Footscray Community Arts
[Events, Openings & After Hours, Indoor, Online]
Performance: Picture Her (26 Feb)
26 February 2021, 6:30pm (AEST)
Footscray Community Arts
[Events, Openings & After Hours, Indoor, Online]
Performance: Picture Her (27 Feb)
27 February 2021, 4pm (AEST)
Footscray Community Arts
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Jacky Redgate (AU)
Hold On
7 March 2020 - 14 February 2021
Geelong Gallery