Adrienne Doig, Harry and Penelope Seidler 2005
Alex McDonald - Some People & www
22 February 2005
Adrienne Doig’s embroidered tapestries are uncomplicated, like the worldview of a six year old. In each of the 18 embroideries currently on display at Kaliman Gallery, Doig has woven thin woollen thread onto linen to create a series of strangely satisfying portraits. Skilfully made without being elaborate, some are of just one person, while others are of couples and groups. Each has some notable feature that sticks in your memory; Peter (2005) shows a man holding a shovel and Hamish and Max (2005) is of a man with a bad bowl haircut and a sheep (or maybe it’s a dog) in his arms. Laura and Louis (2005) shows a young, Birkenstock-wearing mother holding an infant. Among the regular people are some familiar, semi-famous faces. Harry and Penelope Seidler are instantly recognisable – Harry bespectacled and wearing a cream suit and Penelope in a pink dress.
Although the technique of crewel embroidery is quite primitive and the portraits themselves slightly wonky, their quaint, imperfect look is appealing, especially in an age when digital trickery, restylane and botox can all be used to make the skin on people’s faces and bodies appear impossibly smooth and young-looking. All of Doig’s faces however are equally rough and marked with the contours that come with age and the act of embroidery itself, making the baby’s face in Laura and Louis look as wrinkled as Harry Seidler’s.
In the room opposite Doig’s Some People is a group show co-ordinated by New Zealand artist Julian Dashper called www. It contains works by twelve artists – all of whom are women – from Australia and New Zealand. All the artworks seem totally disconnected from one another, with the exhibition looking more like a garage sale than your average art show but perhaps that's the point. Apparently the artists were asked to choose their own work, which may account for the lack of continuity between them. A large, text-based piece, Listen (2004) by Mary Louise Browne dominates the space and reads:
“Listen, we must not compare ourselves to regular people. We’re artists. For instance, let me challenge you with a little piece I did … you will take pictures and record my work. You will join me in the avant-garde of the new aesthetic.”
Though ironic and vaguely amusing, Listen doesn’t really work. Still there are some nice pieces here, like Judy Darragh’s ‘Weeping’ wall hangings made from sparkly, plastic beads which hang at either end of the main wall and her sculptural piece Dreamweaver (2004), named after the computer program designers use to make their websites. Darragh’s Dreamweaver is a fluorescent yellow web made from nylon that would probably look really nice in someone’s living room.
More Information
Some People & www: co-ordinated by Julian Dashper
Until 5 March
Kaliman Gallery, 10 Cecil St, Paddington
Details: (02) 9357 2273
Website: http://www.kalimangallery.com/
