reconnaissance

Art and social justice in the works of Bob Birch, Christopher Crouch, Susan Norrie and David Mackenzie, and Jon Tarry.

Curated by Dr Annette Pedersen, reconnaissance features works by five Australian artists who share a strong interest in issues of social justice both in Australia and abroad.

Pedersen’s concept for the exhibition originates in Bob Birch’s blog, Through Australian Eyes. Birch’s blog features photographs that document his experiences in the occupied West Bank over the past few years. His images raise a myriad of issues, and reveal the reality of what it is like to live in a situation of essential statelessness.

Bob Birch, Fields on fire, Iraq Burin, 2010, digital ink jet print

Susan Norrie and David Mackenzie have spent the past several years travelling to Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, where gas and oil drilling has caused an eruption of boiling mud and poisonous gases that continues to flow. The artists have documented the devastating impact this has had upon the local landscape and community in the Korban Lumpur Project.

Susan Norrie & David Mackenzie, Korban Lumpur Project (detail), 2010, 2 channel video installation, 12 minutes

In contrast to these artists, Christopher Crouch’s paintings are a reconnaissance of the Australian landscape. His paintings reflect a cool, idyllic vision of the landscape. However, there are signs that powerful and menacing forces lie just beneath the surface, threatening to disrupt these otherwise picturesque scenes.

Christopher Crouch, Un-natural disaster III, 2006, acrylic on canvas

Jon Tarry’s video installation, sculptural works and works on paper explore a range of geopolitical relationships that exist between Australia and the rest of the world. His exploration of the Curtin Detention Centre in the North West Kimberly – which is a military air base, a processing point for refugees, and a domestic airport all in one – provides a particularly powerful exploration of this subject.

Jon Tarry, Para d 5, 2005-2010, digital print

This exhibition runs 11 March – 24 April 2011.
Gallery hours are 11am-5pm Tuesday to Friday, and 12-5pm Sunday.
All images are copyright and courtesy of the artists, and Jon Tarry’s work is courtesy of Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth.