RICHARD TIPPING Instant History 4 - 23 April 2017 Au s T R A l I A N GA l l e R I e s SYDNEY
Au s T R A l I A N GA l l e R I e s SYDNEY
Invites you to the opening
RICHARD TIPPING Instant History Tuesday 4 April 2017 6pm to 8pm 15 Roylston street Paddington NsW 2021 The artist will read from his new book of poems Instant History - Flying Island Books, 2017 Artist talks and poetry 2:30pm Saturday 15 April 2017 and 2:30pm Saturday 22 April 2017 Current until sunday 23 April 2017 Open 7 days 10am to 6pm T 02 9360 5177 sydney@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au richardtipping.com Member Art Galleries Association of Australia Front: Kangooroo (detail) 2016 aluminium & retro-reflective tape on integrated poles and concrete bases – 2 signs 510 x 312 x 13 cm and 375 x 220 x 13 cm (installation dimensions variable) edition 3
This page: Top paddock 2016 reflective tape on perspex (double sided and freestanding) – 2 signs 49 x 72.5 x 15 cm edition 6
1. Safe art 1980 + 2015 steel, enamel, aluminium, die-cast alloy satin finished, 20 cent coin on steel base 63.5 x 48.5 x 51 cm
RICHARD TIPPING INsTANT HIsTORY 1. Safe Art was made in 1980 and is an ‘adjusted readymade’ in Duchamp’s terms. The safe was donated to the artist by CMI Safes, meticulously engraved. CMI stands for ‘Craftsmanship Means Immunity’ and Safe Art presents as a conundrum: is this artwork celebrating the art of safe-making? Is the art (if any) inside it now safe? Is the artwork itself to be classified as ‘safe’ as opposed to ‘avant-garde’ art’? The safe is guaranteed to be ‘Explosive Thief Fire Resistant’, with a traditional spin combination lock almost impossible to ‘crack’. After being included in significant exhibitions in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in the early 1980s, in 1989 Safe Art was donated by the artist to the Art Gallery of NsW where it was subsequently mislaid, proving the illusory nature of safety. Safe Art has been re-created by CMI safes using parts from their archive, along with an identical safe engraved with the words Unsafe Art, which is now safely in the collection of the Art Gallery of NsW. 2. Jump Start combines road-sign language and vernacular speech, with absence as a tangible presence. The ‘roo has jumped away, leaving its iconic outline, along with the ‘see you later’ meaning of the traditional phrase ‘ooroo’. The ‘roo depiction has been carefully traced from the design of an Australian copper penny (1938-64). The word ‘kangaroo’ derives from the Guugu Yimithirr word ‘gangurru’, referring to grey kangaroos. It was first recorded as ‘Kangooroo or Kanguru’ in 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook on the banks of the Endeavour River at the site of today’s Cooktown, when his ship the Endeavour was beached for almost seven weeks to repair damage sustained on the Great Barrier Reef. ‘Ooroo’ is a palindrome; however, kangaroos can’t walk backwards. 3. Breathe Wreathe is a two-word poem, embodied in natural stones. The word breathe is separated into three parts by the imposition of two spaces, becoming: b reath e. This word contains ‘be’ and ‘breath’ and ‘breathe’ and ‘the’. The poem becomes : Be Breath, Breathe, Breathe the Breath. The central part of the word ‘reath’ sounds the same as ‘wreath’. This creates a second sequence, a resonating echo: We Wreathe The Wreath. Breath and reath become interleaved. Our life is breathing, until our last breath. And then the wreath, a circle representing eternal life. 4. Southern Crossing 1982: Photographs courtesy of Miki Komatsu & Ian de Gruchy. With Clark Perry Blackmore Architects, for the Festival of Sydney, and as an associated event of the Biennale of sydney. sponsored by the sydney Committee ltd and the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council. Installed with the assistance of the Department of Main Roads, NsW. The huge light work Southern Crossing was installed for the first half of 1982 on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Circular light boards were attached to the pylon opposite the Opera House, forming the image of the Southern Cross constellation with the four levels of astronomical magnitude for the five stars. The lightbox on exhibition shows this first-ever light installation on the Bridge, which was brightly visible from kilometres down the harbour. After a public petition to retain the lights, Southern Crossing was turned on again for the month of January 1983. An example of the lightboards is also on display.
Rose and Banjo in Marrickville 2005 digital print (2017) 46 x 46 cm edition 6 This is the cover image of Tipping’s new book of poems Instant History.
Lovepoem 2008 engraved granite, goldleaf & stainless steel rails 100 x 100 x 1.5 cm
2. Jump start – our ‘roo shoots through 2016 retro-reflective vinyl on aluminium (installed dimensions variable, 2 varieties of vinyl) 170 x 284 x 4 cm edition 8
3. Breathe Wreathe 2016 beach stones, engraved text on marble base 50 x 100 cm
4. Southern crossing 1982 2002 + 2016 lightbox 135 x 120 x 15 cm
RICHARD TIPPING
Photographing photography 2015 digital print 18 x 21.5 cm edition 6
This iPhone photo shows a photography set-up in the artist’s studio with: 1/ Photography is easy (after Giuseppe Chiari) 2015 retro-reflective vinyl on aluminium 132 x 78 x 4 cm edition 4 2/ Photography is easel (after Giuseppe Chiari) 2015 retro-reflective vinyl on aluminium and wood 43 x 30 x 13.5 cm edition 6 The conundrum is inspired by the sudden prevalence of mobile- phone photography, and by a version of Giuseppe Chiari’s two works Art is Easy and All Music is the same featured on the catalogue cover of the 8th Biennale of sydney in 1990, directed by Rene Block.
Photography: Richard Tipping (unless otherwise stated) Produced by Australian Galleries and Richard Tipping, 2017
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