On The Surface of Things

By Andrew Frost

At a time when the photograph – that thing printed on paper, framed or mounted on a wall – is rapidly becoming a legacy medium reserved for artists and specialist collectors, the group show On The Surface of Things is a timely reminder that the foundational theories of photography such as Susan Sontag’s On Photography [1977] and Roland Barthes Camera Lucida [1980] still hold an enormous influence on the thinking of young artists. Isobel Parker Philip’s curatorial project featuring the work of six photomedia artists playfully highlights the relationships between depth, perception and representation in the photographic image.

The works range from the abstractions of Justine Varga’s Still Life No. 5 and Bianca Chang’s Colour Study IV, pieces that test the limits interpretation of space, to Parker’s own A Dust Unsettled i & iv and Deb Mansfield’s Strangle & Knives in Plasticine, works that scramble the understanding of what constitutes ‘surface’ in the works, while Sarah Mosca and Jacob Ring’s pieces share an aesthetic of restrained classical conceptualism giving their works a sense of cool detachment.

Until November 2

Firstdraft, Surry Hills

Pic: Deb Mansfield, Strangle & Knives in Plasticine, 2013. Photo-tapestries, 80 x 66 cm each. Edition of 5.