DIRECTLY- INDIRECTLY  
Canberra Art Biennial

1 Oct 2022
Curated by Dr Neil Hobbs

Cox Gallery,
Kingston Foreshore


I heard a radio interview with the South American author Isabel Allende. The interviewer asked her how she would like to be remembered she chuckled and said no one is remembered it is a patriarchal fantasy a masculine construct to make men feel better about dying. At that time, we were in lock down and I was spending much of my time rummaging through my collection of archived materials. I came across a bundle of early 20th Century black and white photographs. The unknown nurse, the unknown businessmen, the unknown wife, the unknown soldier all have been misplaced, swept up in estate sales, unique and fragile but somehow generically similar inhabiting that country that is the past. Undoubtedly, they faced their own pandemics, Spanish flu, polio, cholera, and countless others. “The only thing we don't know is the history we've forgotten”. I have placed my collection of forgotten souls on billboards and the scaffolding of our evolving cities, not on the gleaming towers built for the edification of men’s egos but on the suburban back streets with their shuttered shops and crumbling facades.

My life in the bush of Ghosts 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 125 x 89 x 9 cm

My life in the bush of Ghosts 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 125 x 89 x 9 cm

Front line 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 108 x 81x 5 cm

Front line 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 108 x 81x 5 cm

The Road 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 126 x 64 x 7 cm

The Road 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 126 x 64 x 7 cm

Soldiers and unknown zones 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 104 x 60 x 5 cm

Soldiers and unknown zones 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, linoleum, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 104 x 60 x 5 cm

Blue skies for the Patriarchy 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 96 x 66 x 6 cm

Blue skies for the Patriarchy 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, painted timber, form ply, deconstructed street sign, concrete residue, 96 x 66 x 6 cm

Brothers 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, Bakelite frame, 40 x 40 cm

Brothers 2022, Recycled: early 20th Century photograph, printed paper collage, Bakelite frame, 40 x 40 cm