Catalogue - PhotoAccess

 HUW DAVIES GALLERY th
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26 March – 26 April 2015 That Jumping Guy | Louise Baker Louise Baker’s exhibition That Jumping Guy comprises just one image. This single image is repeated, over and over again, on furnishings, clothing, on the walls and on the floor. At first glance, her living-­‐room installation appears like a well-­‐curated showroom, adorned with furnishings and wallpaper in a uniform cream. Lamplight lends a cozy glow to the whole setting, even against the harshness of gallery lights. Looking closer, a pattern is revealed. The image-­‐ repeated hundreds of times-­‐ shows a person, a guy jumping in mid-­‐air. There remains something friendly about the image, something buoyant and playful, even amid the evidence of mass-­‐
production and consumer culture. Commenting on the joy of repetition as well as its perils, Baker joins artists such as Melbourne-­‐based Jon Campbell, who recently mass-­‐produced thousands of flags in pink and green, bearing the colloquialism ‘yeah’, as though they were advertising or protest collateral. Like Campbell, Baker uses the forces of mass-­‐production to create a statement that is monumental in its simplicity and the impact of its execution. At the same time, her exhibition encompasses the breadth of global industry, and the history of the reproducible image. Baker’s jumping-­‐off point is the portrait. One of the most enduring forms of popular photography, portraiture represents a way to capture personality and identity, to share it with others and to preserve it for posterity. While Baker takes care to fix this image again and again, on cushions, on lollipops and on beer bottles, the image itself refuses to become fully grounded. This is a fragile image of a young man, quite literally, up in the air. His image can be traded, printed, distributed, again and again, its material format as fluid and unpredictable as movement itself. The photograph, once a way to fix representation and hold onto identity, becomes a major player in an ever-­‐shifting game of consumption and exchange. Wearables 2, 2014, digital print on silk and cotton
Supported by the ACT and Commonwealth Governments
Manuka Arts Centre is an ACT Government arts facility
Artist Statement | Louise Baker That Jumping Guy explores modern portraiture and the changes in the way it is expressed and shared. By first taking its cues from traditional portraiture, time and care were taken to plan and discuss the outcome to create an image that reflects and tell us something about the sitter. The employment of modern technology allows the nature of portraiture to change. Rather than something you might have undertaken once or twice in a lifetime, it is now the norm to have portraits taken every other day and share them relentlessly until we are at image saturation point. In this light, the originally carefully crafted image is continually subjected to consumer print on demand services until we are so bombarded that it is hardly discernable amongst the visual pollution that it has become. Snowglobe, 2014, digital print on snowglobe About the artist Louise Baker is an emerging artist based in Sydney. Baker studied photomedia at Sydney TAFE, graduating in 2008. Baker has since exhibited in group exhibitions in Sydney, and in 2014, her solo exhibition Substrate aka That Jumping Guy was presented at Gaffa Gallery as part of the Head On festival. This installation of That Jumping Guy at PhotoAccess is Baker’s first solo exhibition in Canberra. HUW DAVIES GALLERY at PhotoAccess, Manuka Arts Centre, Corner Manuka Circle and NSW Crescent Griffith ACT
TEL. 02 6295 7810 WWW.PHOTOACCESS.ORG.AU
List of works All works 2014, digital prints on various substrates, dimensions various, open edition Lollipop $10 Chair $1000 Cushion $100 Blanket $100 Table lamp $100 Book $65 Jigsaw $150 Monopoly $95 Cards $25 Clock $75 Pencil skirt $200 Silk top $200 Faille top $180 T shirts $60 Tote bag $50 Calico bag $25 Converse $150 Thongs $40 Watch $120 Brooches $75 Earrings $90 Button badge $15 Mug – magic $30 Mug $20 $40 Plate set of four $200 Glasses set of four $150 Teapot $150 Stubbie holder $20 Note pad $25 Book $75 Necklaces $95 Keyrings $20 Phone cover $40 $200 Snow globe Rastobator image 159341 dots Price HUW DAVIES GALLERY at PhotoAccess, Manuka Arts Centre, Corner Manuka Circle and NSW Crescent Griffith ACT
TEL. 02 6295 7810 WWW.PHOTOACCESS.ORG.AU
Lollipop, 2014, edible ink mounted on toffee Public program | Saturday 28 March at 2pm Join Louise Baker and co-­‐exhibitors Laura Moore and Yiorgo Yiannopoulos for floor talks and drinks in the gallery. HUW DAVIES GALLERY at PhotoAccess, Manuka Arts Centre, Corner Manuka Circle and NSW Crescent Griffith ACT
TEL. 02 6295 7810 WWW.PHOTOACCESS.ORG.AU