Shotgun 6: A Rag or a Rip

Artist

Robert O’Connor

Date: 07-Oct-2017 – 22-Oct-2017

Location: Contemporary Art Tasmania

‘Cartographer, archeologist, explorer, scavenger, sociologist and resurrectionist. Rob O’Connor is all of these things. His work, like the artist himself, exudes a restless energy and a palpable curiosity. He is fascinated by maps, even when they are composed of detritus, both found and formed by O’Connor himself. He notes that cities are full of unseen histories – sites of trauma, humour, accident, neglect – and he is driven to make these visible. That which many would deride as ‘rubbish’ are grist to O’Connor’s mill. One is reminded of William Gibson’s mantra in his novel Burning Chrome: “…the street finds its own uses for things.”’

– excerpt from Shotgun 6 catalogue essay by Dr Ashley Crawford

In 2007 Robert O’Connor completed his Bachelor of Fine Art Honours at the University of Tasmania, School of Art in Hobart. He has been a consistent traveller with residencies and exhibitions throughout Australia and internationally, most notably:Black and White Matter, Galeria Metropolitana, Santiago, Chile (2016) in association with the Black Matter residency project withFrancisca Moenneand Julie Gough;Robert O’Connor Steals, Bett Gallery Hobart (2015);View From Above, Flux Factory, New York City (2015) supported by a residency at Flux Factory, New York; Artist in residence, Carlton Arms, Manhattan, New York (2014); and, Artist in residence, He-Shun International Arts Festival, Xu Cun Artist commune, Shanxi, China (2011).

Shotgun

Industry access, critical engagement, new work

Shotgun began in 2010 as the outcome of a public private collaboration between Contemporary Art Tasmania and Detached Cultural Organisation, a collaboration that has grown to now include the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona). Shotgun is a flexible exhibition and curatorial model that makes demands of its participants: artists, mentors, the Selection Committee and coordinators. This is because it sets out to reinvigorate the practice of select Tasmanian artists within an ever-changing art world. What Shotgun aims to do, and we think is successful in doing, is to challenge cotton-wool complacency and make meta-narratives personal so they have individual relevance to these artists.

During the project O’Connor worked closely with Melbourne based freelance cultural critic and arts journalist Dr Ashley Crawford. Shotgun 6 artists also spent time with visiting industry professionals: Helen Hughes, Tristian Koenig, Simon Pericich, Lisa Radford, Patrice Sharkey and the Shotgun curatorium: Michael Edwards, Kylie Johnson, Craig Judd and Jarrod Rawlins.

Shotgun is a partnership project between Contemporary Art Tasmania, Detached and Mona.

WWW.SHOTGUNONLINE.NET

Artist