BLACKARTPROJECTS PRESENTS
THE DECLINE OF THE WESTERN CIVILISATION B L A C K
THE DECLINE OF THE WESTERN CIVILISATION Sarah Hendy Ash Keating Anthony Lister Tom O’Hern Claudia Nicholson Natalie Ryan Allpress Studio 84 Rupert Street Collingwood, Victoria 24 - 27 November, 2016
THE DECLINE OF THE WESTERN CIVILISATION As Ipsos Mori’s Social Research Institute reports, “The assumption of an automatically better future for the next generation is gone in much of the west.” There is a belief that western civilisation is living on borrowed time. It might be because our living standards have generally dropped without us noticing. Or it might be our governments’ failure to establish a secure international environment in general, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The increasing fragility of the international political order is diminishing the global economy’s prospects. Globalisation, regularly sold to us as the only future available, is not genuinely offered, but imposed by the people we have freely elected (the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, for example, is directed against China; and China’s New Silk Road initiative is a reaction to its exclusion from the 12-country TPP. The decline of the west is juxtaposed with the rise of the east, notably China). Politicians are trying to force adaptation on reluctant populations who crave security. It is a desperate and delusive strategy. If the planet is to remain habitable, competition in economic growth must give way to competition in quality of life, taking into account the environmental degradation, the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. In this exhibition, Tom O’Hern expresses his environmental concerns through work depicting a fictitious mass extinction event of Australian fauna; Anthony Lister’s superheroes, with their parody on modern life, asks the audience to consider ‘good vs evil’ in Western society; Claudia Nicholson addresses broader experiences of cultural dislocation caused by deforestation and other forms of environmental destruction, drawing connections between cultural traditions and contemporary experiences; Ash Keating’s practice raises a wide range of social and environmental issues such as systems of production and consumption, climate change, urban gentrification, waste and sustainability; Sarah Hendy seeks to reveal the melancholy and the hidden aesthetics present in every day experiences in her work, inviting the viewer to reflect more deeply on the obscure elements of nature and humanity; and Natalie Ryan explores the aesthetic representation of the cadaver throughout Western history and it’s inclusion in contemporary art.
Anthony Lister Untitled I (2016) synthetic polymer on canvas 90 x 90 cm
Anthony Lister Untitled II (2016) synthetic polymer on canvas 90 x 90 cm
Claudia Nicholson Video still, New World Order: Jungle Love Song Dedication (2016) 00:25m loop
Claudia Nicholson Video still, New World Order: JLo Glow (2016) 00:47m loop
Claudia Nicholson Video still, New World Order: Maria, Llena eres de gracia (2016) 00:34m loop
Tom O’Hern I’ve taken my vitamin D and I’ve gone for a walk on Knocklofty and I’m feeling better (2016) ink on paper 160 x 210 cm
Tom O’Hern War in Heaven (2015) synthetic polymer on board 215 x 360 cm
Ash Keating Remote Nature Response #6 (2016) synthetic polymer on linen, oak frame 122 x 91.5 cm
Ash Keating Remote Nature Response #7 (2016) synthetic polymer on linen, oak frame 122 x 91.5 cm
Natalie Ryan Untitled (blue sheep head) (2016) resin, synthetic polymer 30 x 26 x 21 cm
Natalie Ryan Untitled (black goat head) (2016) ceramic, 22kt gold leaf, prosthetic eyes 33 x 31 x 28 cm
Natalie Ryan Untitled (gold fox head) (2016) ceramic, gold lustre, prosthetic eyes 20 x 21 x 22 cm
Sarah Hendy Fruit Salad Plant (2016) oil on glass 42 x 32 cm
Sarah Hendy Bundoora (2016) oil on glass 52 x 42 cm
Sarah Hendy 90s Nude (2016) oil on glass 52 x 42 cm
Sarah Hendy Cactus (2016) oil on glass 23 x 32 cm
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