Visual Arts

Well it is that time of year again when our small town takes the global stage and comes alive with the Adelaide Fringe and the Festival Of Arts. The social calendar fills up at breakneck speed as one books in this show and that event in an attempt to capture as much Festival as possible before the lights are turned off mid-March for another year or two. In terms of visual art, there really is a feast heading our way.

Promising diversity and originality, a flick through the Festivals' visual arts programs results in a, not so short, short-list of exhibitions to get to. It appears that some exhibitions will expose punters to art that will move heaven and earth, whilst others expect connections to the core of our being. Either way, anticipation grows when reading about The Electric Canvas' light and architectural projection spectacle Northern Lights, or the creative exchange between Australian artists and New York's Graffiti Research Lab. Destiny Deacon's videoworks and photographs Clandestine sounds eminent yet challenging, and the electronic work and digital canvas 'Living Window' in the display windows of Harris Scarfe sounds completely unconventional, but loads of fun.

Interestingly, it appears there are a number of exhibitions focused on ethical and environmental issues such as the debated public suicide vs. art of 'Alex London Dies In Public', stories of those impacted by Australia's nuclear industry in 'Inhabited', the survival of children on Kenyan streets in 'Ninjas', and the concern with water use and justice in drought ridden Australia in 'Picturing Water Use' and 'Justice'. These are just a few from the eclectic programs that include expressions of light, recycled materials, body art, international imagery, student work and also a reasonably large Indigenous component. There is plenty to keep busy with, so pick up copies of the visual arts guides for more information.


Martyrmorphose
Michael Huppatz and Shelley Smith
Urban Cow Gallery
Until Mon 3 March


The Adelaide Fringe exhibition currently showing at Urban Cow Gallery, 'Martyrmorphose', combines the artistic endeavours of painter Michael Huppatz and jewellery designer Shelley Smith. Exploring a number of themes such as 'changes in culture, religion, perceptions and nature', the work seems somewhat dislocated as it moves between a seriousness of subject matter and a sense of playfulness.

A large proportion of the exhibition is comprised of Huppatz's geishas; acrylics on canvas inspired by both Japanese traditional culture and modernity. Linked by their figures, these works vary in colour, expression and iconography. Viewers may chuckle as they look upon the disparity of the geisha who sports makeup any Kiss fan would be proud of, or the geisha who toys with dominos and a Rubik's Cube in Nothing Good On T.V. Again. Regrettably, while Huppatz's geisha works are engaging on a basic visual level, they are lacking in depth of technique and style, particularly when considering, say, the work of artist Masami Teraoka who also uses pop culture references to combine East with West.

Huppatz's small suite of 1950s housewives and young girls combine pop culture images also, however this time taking a more sinister and violent approach. Images of female figures with aprons and pleated dresses are paired with guns and drugs. The composition and production of these works are very interesting, where Huppatz has used a collage technique. The figures are layered on wallpaper inspired backgrounds using coloured papers to achieve shading, depth and definition; cut and incised where necessary to create visually cohesive images.

It is Huppatz's The Martyr System that is most confronting - perhaps disconcerting is a more apt description. Large and illustrative, these works depict Renaissance inspired detail of deposition scenes, stigmatic hands and scenes of martyrdom. In each painting, ever so subtle outlines of aeroplanes approaching a central blood red shape evoke images and perceptions of suicide air attacks.

This is particularly clear in The Martyr System #4 where in a stigmatic hand sits a detonator. This series of work is premised by the idea that martyrdom spans fanatical fundamentalist movements found in both Christian and Muslim religions, that the actual similarities of each run stronger than their perceived 'difference'. This is according to Huppatz who seems intent to remind viewers that the Christian Church made saints of many martyrs. That this can somehow be likened to the plight of the suicide bomber is an extremely long stretch of the imagination. Sadly, Huppatz makes some sweeping generalisations about 'predominantly white Christian culture' and its views on Muslim culture, views that I feel many would challenge at a personal level. However, artistic inspiration appears in many shades and nobody can deny an artist their motivation.

Drawing an affinity with nature, Shelley takes a more literal approach to the concept of metamorphosis, calling on elements such as leaf matter, ocean life and astronomy as inspiration for beautiful sterling silver jewellery design. Such inspiration can be easily seen in her delicate works that are well formed and at times incorporate bursts of colour. In somewhat of a collaborative piece, Shelley has reproduced in miniature, images of Huppatz's work, transforming them into a 42-piece installation of assorted laminated brooches. Whilst this gives Huppatz's work another dimension, it comes as a strange transition to have some of his subject matter indiscriminately made into 'wearable' art.

Nerina Dunt





Michael Huppatz
Toys 2007
archival Canson paper
Image courtesy of the artist and Helpmann Academy



Shelley Smith
Anemone
bracelet, sterling silver
Image courtesy of the artist and Helpmann Academy