Preview :: Dara Gill, Brown Council and Alex Wisser at MOP

November 30th 2011

 

A pre-packaged block of clay sits on a gallery floor. The camera rolls. An artist enters, and begins to push the clay in a straight line, back and forth, until it is transformed into a ball. It’s an almost painfully simple idea, yet this simplicity conveys a whole raft of emotions. The Sisyphean futility of the task, the repetition, the tactility, and the natural evolution of the clay all seem to speak directly to urban life, drawing strange parallels to our passage through the city, and to the tasks we perform daily. Like the best art, it evokes at once a sense of surreality and a deep familiarity; it is the making visible of hidden realities.

Dara Gill is one of those rare artists who manages to distil the totally banality and futility of Modern Life into a body of work that is simultaneously funny, engaging, poignant and accessible. Working across video, sculpture, painting, sound and installation, Gill has won a swag of awards since graduating COFA in 2009, including the Gallery Barry Keldoulis Grant for Emerging Artists, the COFA Emerging Artist Award, runner up in the 2010 Art Month Speed Dating program, and the ArtStart Grant for Emerging Artists from the Australia Council. And it seems this is only the beginning (he was even nominated for an FBi SMAC Award this morning!)

2011 saw the young upstart participating in JUMP Mentorship, a national mentorship program with MCA curator Glenn Barkley, culminating in his upcoming solo show at MOP, opening this Thursday, In Action, Inaction. The show continues to probe Gill’s interest in anxiety, the gap between intention and action, repetition, and the mundane. With the two other MOP galleries occupied by Brown Council and Alex Wisser, this show promises to be a cracker.

Speaking of crackers, MOP have also solved your Christmas present woes, with their Cracker Fundraiser (see what we did there?)! The Fundraiser will feature works A4 and smaller in size from a huge range of generous artists, all for $50 a pop, and with all proceeds going straight back to the gallery, to help fund more events like this one! Amazing, unique, locally-produced Christmas gift? CHECK. Warm fuzzies from donating to a good cause? CHECK. Sense of cultural superiority obtained from being an Arte Collectore? CHECK.

Sweet show opening, affordable art for sale – MOP is basically Santa Claus, am I right!?


What: Dara Gill, Brown Council and Alex Wisser shows, plus MOP Fundraiser

Where: MOP, Abercrombie St, Chippendale

When: Shows open 6pm Thurs Dec 1st, continues until Dec 17th; fundraiser Dec 18th, 6 – 8pm

How much: Free


Videos courtesy of Dara Gill (http://www.daragill.com/works/index.html)
 

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