"Bittersweet"
2002-04-20 until 2002-06-10
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Sydney, , AU Australia

As the title suggests, there are mixed emotions at play in this exhibition of seven contemporary Australian artists. Through paying close attention to the detail of our lives they offer insight into how we interact with each other and the world in which we live.

This is art with an aftertaste. In common with other recent cultural practices that focus on contemporary living, these works locate themselves somewhere between irony and belief. In a time when we are almost reflexively ironic, the desire to reconnect is moderated by an inability to be gullible enough to take the world at face value.

One counter to this in art has been the foregrounding of a personal or subjective response. The attempt to articulate this response is also a part of the art work, resulting in works that are exploratory, reflective and at times deliberately banal as they range from confessional videos to exotic embroidered creatures and protest placards.

IMAGE:
Darren Sylvester
They return to you in song
2001
Lambda print on aluminium, acrylic,
courtesy of the artists and William Mora Galleries

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Australia

Other Important Exhibitions in Sydney