Unhomely: Australian Contemporary Art Exhibition
August 5 – September 27, 1998
Art Sonje Center
Unhomely: Australian Contemporary Art Exhibition
The exhibition titled ‘Unhomely’, an Australian contemporary art exhibition, has been created with the intention of establishing a new concept for the “personal and comfortable home” and at the same time approaching space with a different perspective. As can be noted from the title, the works illustrate the tension and relativity between mind and body and public and private spaces by transforming such ideas on a familiar space. The title in fact derives from Sally Smart’s “The Unhomely Body.”
This exhibition brings to Korea the works of nine Australian artists. Seven artists are presented here in Kyongju and two at the new Art Sonje Center, Seoul. In different ways each artist represents their ideas about the house and the home, and how the home influences who we are. For several years contemporary Australian artists have made images of the home as a way of expressing personal and cultural identity. In this exhibition the artists present real, imaginary and perhaps ideal homes. The exhibition is titled ‘Unhomely’ because each of the works suggests that where is comfort there is also discomfort. ‘Unhomely’ suggests that the home is not simply a shelter and a place of nurture, but that it can also be a place of anxiety, claustrophobia, and lost dreams. The ‘unhomely’ means that something familiar can suddenly appear terrifying and unfamiliar.
Australian artists are expressing ideas and uncertainties about the home because Australia is a young, multicultural nation whose sense of national and cultural identity is undefined and in a constant process of change. The homes presented here are conventional and unconventional. We see the typical Australian suburban brick veneer house, menacing trees, bird-boxes, beds, webs, and dark abstract spaces. These homes are about the physical and emotional experience of the artists. ‘Unhomely’ is about the desire for, but impossibility of, the ideal home.
‘Unhomely’ is curated by Jason Smith of the Victoria National Museum in Australia and sponsored by the Australia-Korea Foundation and Asialink. The exhibition displays works by 9 artists, including Sally Smart, Louise Weaver, Tracey Moffett, Lisa Young, Kathy Temin, Colin Duncan, Howard Arkley, Stephen Birch, and Anne Zahalka.