Artist
Julie Fragar
Curator
Amanda Davies
Exhibition
Opens 25 September 2020 (no opening event)
Continues until 4 October 2020
Location: Contemporary Art Tasmania
Closing event Friday 2 October 2020 (bookings only, strictly limited): https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/120493119163
A suite of three solo exhibitions curated by three artists presented in ‘rapid fire’ succession across three consecutive Fridays.
The Cut is the first presentation in the Circumbinary orbits suite of exhibitions. Amanda Davies has worked with Julie Fragar to develop an intimate installation of paintings that focus on the relationship between conscious and unconscious bodies in the context of the operating theatre. From her first person observations within a hospital, Fragar has considered the connections between: the conscious, wakeful person and the body rendered insensible; the merging states of being aware and unaware; and, the mysterious shifting presence and absence of the subject. The strange relationships between the people involved in medical procedures – made visible through paintings – speaks to some of our deepest questions of sentience, trust and mortality.
The Circumbinary orbits suite is curated by Kylie Johnson and deals with sentience, trust, mortality, decay and mythology. The project is developed through the Artist-to-Artist model, first undertaken at CAT in 2016. Johnson employs curatorship as a means of enabling and shaping the social relationships through which art is generated. Informed by the unique relationships artists have with other artists, this project sets out to consider how the personal and professional proximities between artists intersect and influence exhibition outcomes. Each artist pairing has been derived from deliberation of the value that one artist may bring to the other while trusting in ‘gut instinct’ that constructive and supportive relationships will emerge. With a non-hierarchical approach and emphasis on peer-to-peer collaboration, Circumbinary orbits converges artist methodologies, techniques and approaches to artwork presentation.
Julie Fragar lives in Brisbane. Within her practice she focuses on auto/ biography and human experience. She is represented by Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney and Block Projects, Melbourne.
Amanda Davies lives in Tasmania. Davies is known for her figurative paintings that deal with unease and decay. She is represented by Bett Gallery, Hobart.
Circumbinary orbits has been supported by DarkLab.
The Cut has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Image credit: Julie Fragar, Baby Dreams, oil on board, 60 x 50 cm, 2020. Photo: Carl Warner. Courtesy Sarah Cottier Gallery.