CHRISTUS NÓBREGA 'Labirinto' & ALISON ALDER 'Newscrap'

CHRISTUS NÓBREGA LABIRINTO

ALISON ALDER NEWSCRAP

Cover, top to bottom: Christus Nóbrega As Duas Amigas – The Two Friends, photographic print on linen lace Alison Alder Newscrap (detail), 2018, HD Video, diptych, 19’14’’ duration

CHRISTUS NÓBREGA L ABIRIN TO

Labirinto, the title of Christus Nóbrega’s exhibition, refers to a technique of lace making traditionally practised by the women of his home state, Paraíba. The exhibition reflects both his heritage and the enduring role of cotton in an economy with roots in the 17th century. It is an exhibition that reveals the story of Ingá, a small town in the district of Chã dos Pereiras and the tragedy of Nóbrega’s widowed grandmother, who losing all financial support, was forced to relinquish her six children to the care of distant relatives and religious institutions. Her only means of survival was to make and sell the characteristic lace of an area whose culture is to some extent defined by the labyrinthine complexity and beauty of its crafts. Labirinto is the result of three years of research in which Nóbrega explored his ancestral homelands, gathering images and testimonials from artisans and relatives for a series of ‘banners’ that would incorporate poignant images from his family’s album. Positioned away from the gallery walls, Nóbrega’s emblematic works cast deep shadows that evoke the experience of discovering laces stretched in the narrow streets of the settlements of Chã dos Pereiras; drying under the intense sunlight of Brazil’s north east.

At the entrance of Labirinto, La Friera - The Nun (2017) introduces audiences to the exhibition and its narrative. It is a large (150cm x 110cm) photograph of Nóbrega’s mother sitting alongside one of the sisters from the convent in which she was raised. As with many pictures from a family album the pose has a faux formality and yet this is an emotionally charged image stained by time and intensified by enlargement. Suspended from the ceiling in front of a white wall this work generates a space of reverence resembling the sensation one might have upon the discovery of a particularly affecting icon in a place of worship. I see it as an evocative contemporary rendering of the Madonna and child. Although there is no immediate indication of tragic circumstances this photograph reflects Roland Barthes’ notion of the ‘melancholy object’, a faded memorial to the past and an introduction to a family history that is for the audience, initially suffused with unknown sorrow.

Labirinto (Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre installation, photo by Brenton McGeachie)

Printed on linen, four sections appear to have been violently torn from the body of the image to reveal beautiful patterns of labyrinthine lace. The weft (horizontal threads) has been meticulously removed leaving only the warp (vertical threads), which is then reconstructed by women who are the famously accomplished lace makers of North Eastern Brazil. With a tradition of lace making introduced from Portugal, France and Italy in the 17th Century, Nóbrega’s method poses certain challenges for artisans whose craft is initially created from nothing other than needle and thread. In this instance they must work with the warp in an artistic intervention that inserts lace patterns into sections of the photograph. Notably, the cotton threads detached from the linen are often not entirely removed; in ragged fashion they hang loose from the prints, their frayed edges framing and focusing the lace. Working both individually and in groups, lace making is an activity that binds communities as the women gather to exchange patterns and techniques, to gossip, observe and discuss the behaviour of passers by and to pass on skills to their daughters.

By involving relatives and family friends Nóbrega connects not only with his personal past but also brings an entire community together with theirs. It is therefore a project in which many people from the locality, particularly the women, have significant investments. Many of the works depict family life in Brazil during the 1960s, a time of political and economic turmoil when many families had little more than each other, music, dance, and diverse systems of spiritual belief.

Beyond the wall at the entrance there are close-up photographs of Nóbrega’s aunts and uncles, those children lost to his grandmother, connected by a complex, seemingly haphazard web of cotton threads. Like an anthropological kinship diagram this element of the exhibition brings relief and hope, suggesting that the brothers and sisters were never lost to each other. Also embraced by the threads, upturned and opened books sit on the floor like eaves over houses that represent the foundations of knowledge and an emphasis on the importance of education. Eggs, the symbol of new life for many cultures around the world and a symbol of resurrection, sit precariously on selected books.

As the newly produced lace is starched and hung out to dry, the harsh sunlight casts labyrinthine shadows on the pavements and walls of the township. In reflecting the environments where lace is produced, shadows in the gallery become an essential component of the exhibition. There are two works, As Duas Irmãs – The Two Sisters (2017) and A Mulher no Jardim – The Woman in the Garden (2017) devoid of lace, where the weft is entirely removed leaving only the warp. The pictorial content of these fragile indistinct pieces appears to be projected directly onto the wall behind, creating an impressive three-dimensional effect. Like many of the other works in this exhibition they are best seen from a distance. As audiences explore Nóbrega’s installation new patterns and images created by the lighting begin to emerge throughout the space and as one moves closer they disappear to reveal raw materials and craft in pure form.

Although self-portraiture is central to Nóbrega’s work his own image is absent from Labirinto; yet he considers this series in its entirety to be a self-portrait. The artist’s presence is manifest in family histories and a focus on characteristic cultural activities that describe and reference their daily lives as we see in video works on adjacent screens that record a woman’s hands enacting the movements of lace making minus tools and thread. Set to baroque music the videos capture the choreography of crafts passed along matrilineal lines. Small, framed prints from photographs of Nóbrega’s grandmother, enlarged beyond identification and discretely placed throughout the installation, position the matriarch on an equal footing with the artist, an invisible yet overwhelming presence. These images are readable only to Nóbrega who has cached the missing sections to memory. Labirinto is a celebration of the “power of women” and ultimately an exhibition that inspires universal empathy as through the pictorial stories of Nóbrega’s grandmother, mother and aunts we remember the strengths of our own.

David Broker, December 2018

Labirinto is supported by the Embassy of Brazil, Canberra

Following page, left to right: As Duas Criancas na Sombra – The Two Children in the Shadow, and A Mulher ao Sol – The Woman in the Sun, photographic prints on linen lace, steel, Canberra Contemporary Art Space installation, photo by Brenton McGeachie

A Menina ao Vento – The Girl in the Wind, photographic print on linen lace, steel, photo by Brenton McGeachie

A Mulher no Jardim – The Woman in the Garden, and As Duas Irmãs – The Two Sisters, photographic print on linen lace, acrylic, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Previous page:

Labirinto, Canberra Contemporary Art Space installation, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Above:

Perpétua – Perpetual, HD Video, diptych, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Tia Ieda I, II, III – Aunt Ieda I, II, III, Photographic print on linen lace, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Following pages: Annotated News: 1 – 10 & Annotated News: USA (detail), 2018, screen print on paper, photo by Brenton McGeachie

ALISON ALDER NE WSCRAP

The wave of nostalgia that washed over my first impressions of Alison Alder’s two videos Newscrap (2018) was unexpected in that I imagined scrapbooks were a phenomenon of the past. For the avid collector of images and information, scrapbooking was seemingly replaced by blogs. The ‘art’ of scrapbooking became popular during the 19th century in the United Kingdom and I was surprised to find that they continue to be popular in the United States, where Alder has recently done research at Interference Archive, Tamiment Archive and Robert Blackman Print Studio in New York and The Centre for Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles. Scrapbooks, the most democratic of media, might consist of collections including clippings from newspapers and magazines, organised and categorised to contain texts and images concerning family achievements, movie stars, sports heroes, automobiles, news or anything of interest to the maker. Frequently containing elements of journaling, like their close relatives the photo album and diary, scrapbooks are repositories of memorabilia that reflect the obsessions, thoughts and feelings, or character of the creator. In other words they are personal.

As a past time or a hobby, scrapbooks were entertainment before television and the Internet provided a predominant distraction. While they might on occasions cover certain momentous events I don’t believe I have ever encountered a scrapbook consisting solely of pictures of politicians. In Alder’s videos we see her hands turning the pages of books packed with images of the past and present protagonists of global power. While this work will be viewed in the context of an artist with a particular political persuasion, Alder essentially leaves the viewer to imprint their personal politics onto the work.

The images raise questions about how photos are perceived in the absence of specific text and in the presence of an imagined context. I say imagined because the audience requires knowledge of the artist’s previous works - many imbued with potent political critique - to conclude that there is an opinion expressed. In an age where attention spans require ever decreasing fragments of information, unflattering photographs of politicians, on Twitter and Facebook for instance, are used to undermine the purveyors of political views users don’t agree with. These often randomly shot images are not necessarily taken with a view to present the subject in an unfavourable light and besides, partisan audiences will add context at a later point. In other words with the right/wrong angle or lighting anyone can look awful and this is exacerbated by the accessibility of portable digital cameras and phones. My response to Alder’s work therefore is not to focus on her personal political views but rather to look at the broader picture of reportage and how this is manifest in the age of digital media noting Rich Karlgaard’s view that politics today is inherently ugly.

“Something really foul has happened to American politics. In our media-soaked “gotcha” age, politics repels normal folks and appears to attract people of deep narcissistic tendencies. You may argue that politics has always had its share of rogues, and that would be true. But there is something creepy about this generation’s crop. The sort of grasping needy weirdness that we associate with performance artists has bled into politics to an unthinkable degree. Politics is now Hollywood for ugly people.”1 - Rich Karlgaard, Forbes While I have purposefully avoided situating Alder’s works within a particular political ideology it is clear that her work is born of frustration, anger and the confusion of déjà vu or the idea that what happens in politics today is a repetitious loop that becomes increasingly tedious the older one gets. It is a stage set for cynicism as she focuses on the absurdity of modern politics through the print media that frames the political act. As the presses role on day after day change is only for the worst. Alder’s emphasis on obsolescent media, scrapbooking and print, ironically captures the digital zeitgeist suggesting that it is not the Internet or the 24-hour news cycle that have undermined the authority of news per se but rather their dubious presentation of content. As newspapers die a slow and painful death, the response of their owners or boards to the threat of digital media appears to be the self-destructive strategy contained within the notion of ‘fake news’ and gaslighting their readership.

1

Rich Karlgaard, ‘Politics Is Hollywood For Ugly People’, in Forbes Now (US Edition) June 25, 2009, accessed at https://www.forbes.com/sites/digitalrules/2009/06/25/politics-is-hollywood-for-uglypeople/#5803151a6cfc on December 10, 2018.

In the second part of Newscrap Alder expands upon the idea of ‘scraps’ and contemporary reportage by presenting small prints of dubious news clippings that have attracted her attention. While news comes from both Australia and the United States, her time in the latter has perhaps unleashed a bete noir. One doesn’t need to be in the U.S.A to be exposed to the current President’s daily rants against news media and his view that journalists are the “enemy of the people”. Being on location, however, must magnify the exasperation. Concentrating on the banal, Alder imprints a personal commentary over each item in ways that are unambiguous. Bunnies for instance brings to light “ … a 47 page indictment that outlines years of allegations that Mr.Hunter and his wife spent almost a quarter of a million dollars of campaign money on personal expenses, on everything from vacations to fast food meals, even a plane ticket for their pet, reportedly a rabbit.” With cartoon like drawings of pink rabbits and the added headline “Bunnies” Alder makes her views known through captivating mockery. The head shaking humour contained by these works and in fact the entire exhibition, has the effect of being sobering for audiences.

The apparent lack of sophistication in Alder’s critique is carefully considered. It is important to view this work in the context that the artist intends; that we see her craft not so much within the milieu of high art, but rather as egalitarian media accessible to all. Her means therefore are deceptively modest enabling viewers to focus on ideas that have the appearance of being their own. The commentator’s overlay gives an impression of innocence as the artist’s commentary makes an unforgiving strike at ‘news’ pitched to the lowest common denominator with responses in short texts, rough drawings, highlights and marks that seem less the work of an artist than the aggravated response of an average reader. In this way Alder reflects a society that has become disenchanted with news in a period of transition when reportage, true or false, is distrusted. While it is arguable that politicians and news media have always lied to further their interests there is an increasing awareness that media moguls should be treated with utmost suspicion. In her role as artist, however, Alder is a master of uncomplicated communication developing the ability to speak with a broad cross section of audiences who through works like those in Newscrap ultimately feel that she understands their exasperation.

David Broker, December 2018

Annotated News: 1 – 10 & Annotated News: USA (detail), 2018, screen print on paper, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Annotated News: 1 – 10 & Annotated News: USA (detail), 2018, screen print on paper, photo by Brenton McGeachie

Newscrap, 2018, HD Video, diptych, 19’14’’ duration, installation photo by Brenton McGeachie

FOLLOWING PAGE: Newscrap, 2018,#1HD duration, photo Brentonphotograph) McGeachie The Known Knowns - #3Video, , 2018, diptych, Soft pastels19’14’’ on Wenzhou paper,installation 244cm x 98cm eachby (Installation

CHRISTUS NÓBREGA LABIRINTO ALISON ALDER NEWSCRAP

CATALOGUE BY ALEXANDER BOYNES

FRIDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2018 SATURDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2019 CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN ARTS CENTRE, 55 AINSLIE AVENUE BRADDON, CANBERRA ACT 2612 TUESDAY - SATURDAY, 11am - 5pm

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www.ccas.com.au

CCAS IS SUPPORTED BY THE ACT GOVERNMENT, AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL, IT’S ARTS FUNDING AND ADVISORY BODY.