ALL WORKS:
ultrachrome inks on hanemuhle paper
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edition of 5
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This exhibition of disquieting photographic images emphasises the fragility of the Australian environment.
Marian Drew is a Brisbane based photographer who is our final Art Angels artist in residence for 2009. This highly regarded artist is inspired by the conventions of 18th century still life painting, creating tableaus of dead Australian animals and birds. The shock of the limp and lifeless creatures is lessened by the sensuous draped cloths, seductive colours and dramatic lighting. These unsettling and beautiful photographs remind us of the fragility of life and the impact man has on our environment.
This exhibition covers several years work from 2003 to 2009 that feature dead Australian fauna and domestic fabrics.
Marian commented,
“In the spring of 2003 I flew back to Brisbane after studying in Germany. The number of dead animals on the road in Australia was such a shock to me after being in Europe. In all the historic still-life painting that I saw in Germany I found what I thought would be the perfect visual response to the road kill. My photographs are as much a response to my own environment as they are to my experiences of a different culture.”
[Art World, June-July 2008]
Her photographs have many layers of meanings and references. The artwork featured on this exhibition’s invitation is a good example of this. It depicts a Rose Crowned Fruit Dove that rests on a traditional needlepoint cloth, embroidered with English flowers matching the colours of the dove. Whilst a very beautiful image, the short life span of the bird is a jarring counterpoint to the longevity of the embroidery. However the bird and the art of embroidery have in common the threat of becoming lost to new generations. The juxtaposition of the native Australian bird with the English embroidery references the colonisation of Australia, and the fact that the dove is threatened with extinction, through loss of rainforest breading areas, due in large to this colonisation. Other dualities are referred to: natural and artificial, contemporary and historic, life and death, and light and dark. The thimble and needle remind us of traditional women’s work, made largely redundant now by mass produced clothing and haberdashery. Finally the photograph references art history and the impact that 18th Century still life painting continues to have on contemporary depictions of domestic life.
Marian graduated from the Canberra School of Art in 1984 and followed this with a year of post graduate study in Germany and travels around Europe. Since 1986 she has lectured in senior positions at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University where she is currently the Convenor of Photography Programmes. She has held 27 solo exhibitions around Australia, and her photographs can be found in many important collections, including the Getty Museum in the USA, National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of SA and Artbank. She has exhibited in international group exhibitions in New York, London, Berlin and Taiwan. A major monograph on her work was published by the Queensland Centre for Photography in 2006, the same year she was voted one of the 50 most collectable artists in Australia by The Australian Art Collector magazine.
Marian Drew’s residency in Perth is held in conjunction with the Central Institute of Technology.
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- TURNER GALLERIES | showcasing contemporary art
at 470 WILLIAM STREET NORTHBRIDGE WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6003 - TURNER GALLERIES HAS NOW CLOSED.
This website is an archived record of the exhibitions and artwork shown at the gallery. - Turner Galleries acknowledges the Whadjuk Nyoongar people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where Turner Galleries is situated, and pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
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