valerie sparks

at turner galleries

1 february - 1 march 2008

• press release
• price list
• stephen bevis, exhibition sparks first at gallery the west australian, 30 january 2008

It is with great pleasure that Turner Galleries welcome their first artist in residence for 2008, Valerie Sparks.

Valerie is a Melbourne based artist, represented by Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne. This will be Valerie’s first solo exhibition in Perth.

Many of Valerie’s digitally manipulated photographic prints are inspired by the French scenic wallpapers manufactured by Zuber in the 1800s. One of the centrepieces of the exhibition will be the six metre long El Dorado Springs (2007). The name is taken from Eldorado, a scenic wallpaper produced by Zuber in 1849. Like the original, it takes liberties with perspective and reality, drawing together different landscape and architectural elements to create a seamless, but impossible place. Valerie has combined buildings, such as the Russian Orthodox Church in East Brunswick, Alliance Francais in St Kilda, St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne and the Bright Moon Buddhist Society in Springvale along with the Zagros Mountains and assorted gum trees, religious sculptures and flowers. The result is a breathtakingly beautiful and surreal environment that pays homage to multiculturalism, particularly in Melbourne.

Other works that refer to the history of scenic wallpapering include the series With a View to Paradise Gallery. Originally exhibited in Linden St Kilda Centre for Contemporary Arts in 2006, they depict the interior of this Victorian building wallpapered from floor to ceiling with a fabulous tropical paradise. But viewer beware, these are fictitious works, Linden was never wallpapered. Like the utopian arcadia depicted on the walls, these are false images, gracing Linden with an imaginary history.

Also on display will be the impressive The Event, depicting a mountainous landscape at night, interspersed with trees and desert plants in the foreground. Valerie has masterfully combined the quiet eeriness of the night with exquisitely lit vegetation, as though being caught in the first rays of morning light.

Valerie’s interest in virtual or ‘hyper reality’ also has its roots in Valerie’s studies of Anthropology, Sociology and Pacific Studies at La Trobe University, before heading to RMIT to study Visual Arts, followed by Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 2003.

Valerie’s residency and exhibition are proudly sponsored by Turner Galleries Art Angels and Central Tafe.

this is not a wallflower 2 lightjet print on paper 80 x 200cm 2007 $4,750 u/f, $5,500 mounted

the event lightjet print on paper 80 x 600cm 2006 $11,000 u/f, $13,000 mounted

this is not a wallflower 1 lightjet print on paper 80 x 200cm 2007 $4,750 u/f, $5,500 mounted

el dorado springs pigment inkjet print on paper 100 x 600cm 2007 $12,800 u/f, $15,000 mounted

this is not a wallflower 3 lightjet print on paper 80 x 200cm 2007 $4,750 u/f, $5,500 mounted

mountains 1 pigment inkjet print on paper 80 x 29cm 2006 $680 u/f, $940 framed

mountains 2 pigment inkjet print on paper 80 x 29cm 2006 $680 u/f, $940 framed

with a view to paradise gallery 1 lightjet print on paper 185 x 105cm 2004 $3,400 u/f, $4,150 mounted

with a view to paradise gallery 3 lightjet print on paper 185 x 105cm 2004 $3,400 u/f, $4,150 mounted