Glen Clarke - Into the Piguenit Redux

GLEN CLARKE Into the Piguenit Redux 19 March to 14 April 2016

For six months in 2015, Glen Clarke had three major works exhibiting in a satellite exhibition for the Venice Biennale. These works were wall-mounted frames containing sculptures constructed of a strategically placed cross-section of origami shirts. The form that these works take is of bombs and missiles. 25 works made using the same technique will be on display in Into the Piguenit Redux at Brenda May Gallery. For this exhibition, Clarke has folded US dollars and currencies from various nations across Asia and the Middle East into destructive weapons that pull audiences in for a closer inspection with their complexity and beauty. These incredible pieces speak of economics, war, danger and zones of conflict, particularly as many of the frames contain more than one nation’s currency. The exhibition will also include two installations that refer to place, peace, polemics and politics. Along one wall Clarke will be installing an imposing 10 metre-long display of coloured miniature marshmallows that will emulate what the artist describes as “The soft fluffy marshmallow skies of Piguenit sunset”. The landscape paintings of Tasmanian-born William Charles Piguenit (1836-1914) may be the aesthetic inspiration for this site-specific installation, however the meaning behind the work is engaged in current events. The first time Clarke envisioned this work was in 1998 at CAST in Hobart.

This rendition allowed the sweet, pastel sunset to symbolise hope and optimism in a time when the Tasmanian community were still in mourning after the unfathomable deadly rampage of Martin Bryant in 1996. The revival of this marshmallow installation will differ, as the marshmallows will be much smaller allowing for a pointillist effect, and the context of the work has shifted dramatically to a more recent event. As the artist explains, this new version explores- “notions of the vulnerability of landscape in the wake of the ISIS attacks on the Temple of Baalshamin in the ancient Syrian City of Palmyra.” As a third component, Into the Piguenit Redux will include a constructed space with a patterned wall of pastel coloured paper cuts of military hardware, a living room set-up with armchairs, a coffee table and a lamp, as well as reading material. This intimate space will face the installation, inviting contemplation. Although there are three seemingly disparate elements to this exhibition, they are connected by their humanitarian message, one that the Artist is actively passionate about. Clarke has been involved with and inspired by Project Renew for some 14 years — a not for profit, Vietnamese mine risk education and UXO removal and demolition organisation. To explore the issues and events surrounding his humanitarian interests, Glen uses varying mediums, however he reveals that “…I still consider myself as a Landscape Artist whether constructing bomb craters from UXO’s or Fictional Cosmologies with watercolours and I still feel that this sweet dot painting

Glen Clarke, Silo #01 (49°09”N - 81°04”E) 2015,folded Chinese yuan, cotton thread, 51 x 107 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, ‘Into the Piguenit Redux’ 2016, mini marshmallows on board, 300 x 1000cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #06 (40°38”N - 115°06”E) 2015 folded US dollars and Chinese yuan, cotton thread, 107 x 81 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #03 (35°18’41.63”N - 92°43’25.66”W) 2015, folded Vietnamese dongs, Laos kips, Cambodian riels, cotton thread, 81 x 107 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #04 (95°17”S - 141°572”E) 2015, folded US dollars and Chinese yuan, cotton thread, 81 x 107 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #024 (30°09”N - 117°37”E) 2015 folded US dollars, Iraqi dinars, Afghan afghanis, cotton thread, 87 x 61 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #05 (40°55”S - 144°42”E) 2015 folded US dollars and Chinese yuan, cotton thread, 72 x 47 x 24cm

Glen Clarke, Silo #025 (48°37”N - 38°43”E) 2015 folded US dollars, Chinese yuan, cotton thread, 87 x 61 x 24cm

B R E N D A M AY

G A L L E R Y

2 D a n k s S t r e e t Wa t e r l o o N S W A u s t r a l i a 2 0 1 7 www.brendamaygallery.com.au info@brendamaygallery.com.au tuesday - friday 11-6 saturday 10-6 t. 02 9318 1122

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Glen Clarke - Into the Piguenit Redux

Published on Mar 22, 2016

MAY SPACE

'Into the Piguenit, Redux' revisits a work first exhibited in Hobart 1996. Through the exploitation of disparate materials, this site-specific installation challenges our senses and addresses contemporary issues of how we respond to landscape, time and space. This consideration is achieved through a hauntingly provocative yet contemplative comparison of the pristine Australian bush landscape with the demise of war torn landscapes and zones of conflict, such as Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. and more explicitly the Temple of Baalshamin in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. Though his artworks pull audiences in with their intricacy, beauty and attention to detail, the motivation behind Clarke's work is a concern for human welfare. More specifically, Clarke has been involved with and inspired by Project Renew for some 14 years, a not for profit, Vietnamese mine risk education and UXO removal and demolition organisation.