Marc Standing The Shadow Men
 
The Talisman 2015 oil on canvas 40x30cm
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Exhibition dates 25 August - 19 September 2015
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The Shadow Men Last year I spent two months on a residency in Mexico, in a city called Puebla two hours south of Mexico City. I worked with a traditional paper mache artist learning his techniques as Mexico has a strong artistic tradition of paper mache. Although I am predominantly a painter I enjoy working with paper and collage, I also wanted to try my hand at some sculpture as I had recently begun experimenting with sculptural assemblages. It was a perfect combination. I was also there during the Day of the Dead festival, something I had always wanted to see. I found the whole experience incredibly inspiring and it has had a large impact on my current body of work. As I usually do when I travel to places I gathered objects that I connected too. These Milagros, reliquaries, masks and skulls end up in the studio and in some way or another filter into the work. Hearing of some of the Mayan mythological creation stories and seeing abundant ancient artefacts in many of the museums over there, as well as, the traditional craft practices of embroidery, mask making, weaving, and ceramics influenced the new work as it also brought back my own personal interest in returning to and exploring my own African heritage. I was born in Zimbabwe and spent my formative years in Africa, as well as, obtaining my degree from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. I first began working with the paper mache creatures, inspired by fertility and harvest deities as well as mythological creatures, and wanted the paintings to respond to the sculptural work so that the end result would be a cohesive body of work. Paper mache is very forgiving and allows one to add other materials to it such as hair, twine and beads, aspects of what I view as three-dimensional collage. I then produced many watercolour studies before beginning the paintings. The show will consist of the objects, some works on paper and paintings. I felt it important to include the work on paper as these pieces intersect the former to the latter. Strong motifs in the work stem from my interest in the collecting of objects, of cabinets of curiosity, the old world, colonialism, and our mortality. 3
There is strong symbolism of the mask in this body of work, which has always been a predominant image in my practice. It relates to the idea of transformation, the capability to morph into some other being in which to communicate with a higher power. It is shamanistic and empowering but also means we have the potential to hide and be become anonymous. There are new elements in the work too, and the idea of the colonial stain is quite predominant. In Mexico, as in Africa, the colonisers left a strong stamp on colonised culture and consciousness. In Mexico ancient temples where pulled down to build cathedrals. Subversively, the indigenous people hid carvings of traditional gods within the Catholic effigy figurines. The paintings have a dreamlike surreal quality to them. They are my own mythologies, drawing inspiration from both African and Mexican imagery without the means of appropriation. I did not want the work to look Mexican or African but had to emanate from my own sensibility. I used mark making as a means of staining the canvas, of wiping paint away, of creating patterns similar to African batik cloth. Another theme, which evolved, was the idea of map making, topographies, and celestial road maps, all linkages to the intangible and sacred. Having experienced the Day of the Dead, my work also began to reveal a more visceral quality which was shaped by my own awareness of the body corporate as one leaves life in death, and I was captivated by the notion of leaving a trace of ones physicality, manifesting itself as what may look like flesh and blood as colour and texture within the paintings. Marc Standing 2015
Skullface oil on canvas 30x30cm 4
The Custodian 2015 oil on canvas 60x60cm 5
Figurine 5 paper mache, acrylic paint & wood 11.5x7.5cm
Figurine 1 paper mache, acrylic paint & wood 12.5x10.5cm
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Figurine 4 paper mache, acrylic paint & wood 20x7cm
Figurine 2 paper mache, acrylic paint & wood 20x7.5cm
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Figurine 10 paper mache, acrylic paint, fibre & cloth 50x7cm
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Figurine 3 paper mache, acrylic paint & cloth 27x19cm
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Figurine 9 paper mache, acrylic paint, cloth,plaster of paris & fibre 50x15.5cm
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Figurine 11 Paper Mache, acrylic paint & fibre 25x8cm
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clockwise: Paperwork 1,2,4 & 3 watercolour on paper [all] 28x21cm
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Paperwork 5 watercolour on paper 28x21cm
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The Gatherers 2015 oil on canvas 60x60cm
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The Rainmen 2015 oil on canvas 100x100cm
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Type to enter text Figurine 8 paper mache, acrylic paint & hair 36x9.5cm
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Figurine 6 paper mache, acrylic paint & cloth 30x12cm
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far left Figurine 7 paper mache, acrylic, fibre & embroidery thread 50x10cm middle Figurine 13 paper mache, acrylic, fibre & beads 30x10.5cm left Figurine 12 paper mache, acrylic, hair 27x12cm
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Wildings 2015 oil on canvas 100x100cm
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The Medicine Men oil on canvas 100x100cm
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The Spirals 2015 watercolour & embroidery on canvas 40x30cm
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The Celestials oil on canvas 180x150cm
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CV Born Lives & Works
1976, Harare, Zimbabwe Hong Kong
1996-1999
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours University of Cape Town, SA
Solo Exhibitions
2015 2014 2013 2011 2009 2008 2007 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
The Shadow Men King Street Gallery The Mystics Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Phosphorescence King Street Gallery on William, SydneyLost Wonders Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne The Duchess of Avon Trink Tank Tank, Melbourne Waking Me Forever, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Terra Australis Incognita Brenda May Gallery, Sydney The Unknown Land of the South Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne Teraphim Brenda May Gallery, Sydney The Playground South Coast Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand New Painting Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Waking Dreams; An Australian Portrait Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD The Human Wreckage Gallery Wawana, Maastricht, Holland Metamorphia Gallery Wawana, Maastricht, Holland A Post Apocalyptic Independence Gallery Wawana, Maastricht, Holland Psychosis Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 2014 2013
New York Now 15, New York USA Human Rights Art Prize Sundaram Tagore Gallery Honk KongArt Taipei The Cat Street Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan Platform for Emerging Artists Leyden Gallery, London. Dreaming in Colour Art Labor, Shanghai, China. Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize Museum of South Australia, Adelaide. Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize National Art School, Sydney, Australia. Signal 8 The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong. Op Smile Fundraiser Auction The Space, Hong Kong Art Athina Anna Pappas Gallery, Athens, Greece.Affordable Art Fair The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Clayton Utz Art Award Brisbane Packsaddle New England Regional Art Gallery, NSWLooking Forward, King Street Gallery on William Asia Art Archive Fundraiser Christies, Hong Kong Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalist Espace Louis Vuitton, Singapore Wonder Works The Space, Art HK 2013, Cat Street GalleryAffordable Art Fair, Cat Street Gallery Hong KongSignal 8 Summer Show, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Project 13 Jamais Vu Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne, Australia Project 30 The Sex Issue online, www.project30.com
Sovereign Asian Art Prize Singapore and Hong Kong Art Athina Anna Pappas Gallery, Athens, Greece
2012
2011
2010 2009
2008
2007
2006
2003
2002 2001 2000
A Verdant Heart King Street Gallery, Sydney Operation Smile The Space, Hong Kong John Fries Memorial Art Prize Gaffa Gallery, Sydney Wilson Visual Art Award Trinity College, Lismore, NSW Signal 8: STORM Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Lightbombs Pop Up Exhibition Art East Island, HK12, Hong Kong The Sketchbook Project: The Limited Edition Brooklyn Library, New York, USA Work on Paper Jeffrey Leder Gallery, New York, USA Urban Creatures Toyota Emerging Art Exhibition, Melbourne Five Bells Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney International Painting NYC Jeffery Leder Gallery New York, USA Year in Review top 100 finalists, Artists Wanted Lightbombs Pop Up Exhibition Art East Island, Hong Kong Art Takes Miami Top 100 finalist, Artists Wanted. Body Language Brenda May Gallery, Sydney LA Art Show Skotia Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Vista Wellington Art Fair South Coast Gallery Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, New Zealand Snowballs and Disco Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong On Paper Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne City of Whyalla Art Prize South Australia. Banyule City Council Works on Paper Award Melbourne Hazelhurst Art Award Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW. Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Gallery, NSW Off The Wall, Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne Art Fair Brenda May Gallery, Melbourne Memento Mori Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Narrative Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Birthday Show Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Shelf Life Delmar Gallery, Sydney Touring Blake Prize for Religious Art I’m as Mad as Hell Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Art Melbourne 07 Melbourne Fishers Ghost Art Award Campelltown Arts Center, NSW Blake Prize for Religious Art National Art School, Sydney Mosman Art Prize Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney New Breed Global Gallery, Sydney Churchie Emerging Art Award Brisbane, Queensland Regional Art Awards Pinnacles Gallery, Thuringowa. Raw Space Gallery, Brisbane, QLD Zimbabwe Now The Royal Academy, The Hague, Holland Artists for Zimbabwe Gallery 27, London, UK Business As Usual Harare International Arts Festival [HIFA], National Gallery, Zimbabwe Mobil Heritage Exhibition National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe Ikons Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe Works on Paper Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe
Awards & Residency
2015
2014 Justice Centre Choice Award
Hagar International workshop in conjunction with the Soveriegn Art Foundation, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Arquetopia 'Day of the Dead' Residency, Puebla, Mexico.
2013 2005
Clayton Utz Art Award [Highly Commended] Clayton Utz, Brisbane Regional Art Awards, Viewer’s Choice, QLD
Bibliography
2014
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
2008
2007
2006 2002 2001
Yung, Vanessa: Marc Standing makes art with a past, South China Magazine 48hrs SEE/HEAR, Arts Preview, Feb Loo, Timothy & Gil John: PLUG Magazine Issue,\ pp50-53 Dolce Vita, aired on TVB erai, Hong Kong 6 March a.m post,'The Mystics by Marc Standing', Elizabeth Brown, pg 38-39, issue 104, March 2014. Ausnet, episode one, aired on Australian Network, 8 April 2014.
Nelson, Robert: The Age, Bodies cast in a state of sexual ambiguity, Mar 13 p The Works, TVB Pearl Hong Kong television, March 5 Rule, Dan: The Age Your Week End in the Galleries, March 13 p Chow, Vivienne, ‘Four Locals in Running for Local Art Prize’ South China Morning Post, Jan 31 pC3
Meacham, Steve: ‘Sparkle and Shade’ Sydney Morning Herald, January 12, p10 Prestige magazine. Fanfare, October 2011, p 84 Inside Out Magazine Jul/Aug p53 Clement, Tracey: Metro picks, Sydney Morning Herald Metro, 4 September, p 14 Profiles, Art Almanac, September, p 195 Human Rights Defender, vol 17, Dec 3, [illustrations only]. Corner, K: Postcards, Art News Magazine, p 42 The Planner, Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, June 21, p 6 Open Gallery, Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, June 14, p 18 Central Magazine, June 28, p 27 Top Shelf, Sydney Morning Herald Metro, June 30, p 2 Simpson, P: Discovering Dank Street, Sydney Star Observer, May 3, p 15 The Theory of Relativity: Central Magazine, Culture, May 16, p 19. Arnold, G: Smart Art, Sunshine Coast daily Revive Magazine, April 29, p 6-8 van de Heide: Onzerwereld Magazine, April p 6-8 Marks, F: Altered States, Gallery Delta Magazine
Collections Groucho Club, London Artbank, Australia
Day of the Dead, Puebla, Mexico