Artists

THE TWILIGHT GIRLS AND RENNY KODGERS

Date: 12-Jun-2014 – 06-Jul-2014

Location: Contemporary Art Tasmania

OPENING & PERFORMANCE: 6pm Wednesday 11 June, 2014

The Twilight Girls are the collaborative duo Helen Hyatt-Johnston and Jane Polkinghorne. Since 1990 The Twilight Girls have used B-grade representations of the body and sexuality and embraced the politically incorrect as a means of undermining notions of celebrity, beauty, taste and aesthetics. Stereotypes in cinema, literature and popular culture are adored and lampooned as genres are deliberately confused. A relentless play between humour and serious intent operates as an intermingling of high cultural hypocrisy and their love of trash and shlock.

Renny Kodgers is the alter ego of Mark Shorter. Kodgers, an American icon, draws on that long Australian tradition of developing identities, which satirize popular culture and challenge social mores. He constantly and slyly tests the moral boundaries of the audience in his various performances, which have included challenging 1970s body art through an endurance performance in a sauna, singing and performing stand-up comedy at music festivals and hosting his own radio show, The Renny Kodgers Quiz Hour.

50 Ways to Kill Renny Kodgers brings these artists together by drawing on those interests they have in common in a game of one upmanship. Their collaborative confrontations produce a homage to classic cinematic horror scenes using B-grade techniques and props in order to re-stage the most memorable and gory events in film history as well as creating some new unforgettable murderous cinematic moments.

Projected works will be accompanied by a live performance on the opening night with Kodgers trying to make a comeback singing with an unscripted intervention by The Twilight Girls. The work will address different cinematic themes with the accompanying soundtrack sung by Kodgers and will be projected in sequence on to the walls of the gallery.

50 Ways to Kill Renny Kodgers is presented by Contemporary Art Tasmania and Dark MOFO.  This project is supported by Arts NSW’s NSW Artists’ Grant Scheme, a devolved funding program administered by the National Association of the Visual Arts on behalf of the NSW Government.