Here are my exhibition picks for June, the first month of winter, in Melbourne:
I.
Exhibition title: Tossed by Waves
Artist: Angelica Mesiti
Venue: Anna Schwartz Gallery
Dates: Until 1 July, 2017
Tossed by Waves is a new video and sculpture installation from Mesiti. Engaging with Morse code, the sculptures comprise of dots and dashes that enable them to signal messages. The video component, filmed at the Place de la République in Mesiti’s adopted city of Paris, mediates on ideas of hope, despair and resilience.
Image caption: Angelica Mesiti, Tossed by Waves (still), 2017, single-channel High Definition video, 16:9, colour, silent, 6 minutes, 17 seconds
II.
Exhibition title: DDesign
Artist: Matthew Griffin
Venue: Neon Parc
Dates: Until 24 June, 2017
Matthew Griffin’s new collages contain an assortment of images, many sourced from Italian designer and founder of the Memphis collective, Ettore Sottsass. In these works, the sacred forms of the vessel and the painted body are subverted through satirical pop-culture references. This exhibition marks a re-entry into the art world for Griffin, who nearly a decade ago, decided to quit being an artist and sold all of his work on eBay.
Image caption: Matthew Griffin, DDesign (Bad Speech), 2017, synthetic polymer paint and collage on paper, 31 x 25cm
III.
Exhibition title: (Not titled)
Artist: Noriko Nakamura
Venue: Daine Singer
Dates: Until 1 July, 2017
Noriko Nakamura’s practice follows an interest in the Japanese indigenous religion of Shinto animism: a belief that the boundary between the physical and spiritual is not absolute. Using stone carving and organic elements such as cat hair, Nakamura explores and transforms these materials to reveal their spiritual force.
Image caption: Noriko Nakamura, studio view, 2017
Header Image: Angelica Mesiti, Tossed by Waves, 2017, Installation view, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne. Photograph: Zan Wimberley.