FOAM, fake fur, fabric, air, clay, balloons and plastics bags are just some of the materials used by artists to create the weird, wacky, and wonderfully fun sculptures in Bathurst Regional Art Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘Soft Core’ which opens this Friday, June 9 at 6pm.
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Soft Core presents works that explore the many facets of ‘softness’ – from large-scale inflatable forms such as Michael Parekowai’s gigantic rabbit “Cosmo McMurtry” which dominates the gallery, to smaller works made from super-soft materials like bright orange fur, doona covers, and squishy clay.
Some works look soft, but are actually hard. Todd Robinson’s whimsical “Oooh Aaah” sculptures resemble deflated balloons but are actually made from fibreglass. In stark contrast, Simon Yates’ “The Foam Corps” trick the eye into believing that these busts of famous historic figures – think Plato, Shakespeare and Joan of Arc – are carved from marble rather than foam.
The exhibition’s curator, Micheal Do, has selected new work by pre-eminent Australian and International artists including international superstar artist Tony Oursler; Michael Parekowhai, arguably New Zealand’s most celebrated artist; and Patricia Piccinini, who famously designed the Skywhale hot air balloon for Canberra’s centenary celebrations in 2013.
Although ‘soft sculpture’ may not sound like a serious avenue for artistic pursuit, the 13 artists represented in Soft Core are part of a generation of contemporary artists for whom adaptive and divergent methods of making is fundamental to their practice.
Traditional notions about what constitutes ‘a sculpture’ – who makes it, for whom, and from what – are questioned, contested, and re-worked in this exhibition.
Micheal Do will be hosting a free curator’s floor talk in the Gallery on Friday at 5pm before the opening event kicks off at 6pm.
In the meantime, don’t miss the final weekend of Beyond Belief: The Sublime in Contemporary Art. This moving and thought-provoking exhibition closes on Sunday. Entry is free.
For more information about BRAG’s opening hours and program visit www.bathurstart.com.