exhibitions
THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG
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Opening: Friday 3 February, 6–8pm, Front and Main Gallery, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
Exhibition continues: 4 February – 11 March 2017
Artists: Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (South Korea); Sarah Contos (Sydney);
William E. Jones (USA); Justine Pluvinage (France); Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland);
Catherine Ryan (Melbourne)
Adopting its title from the Public Image Limited song of 1983, This is Not a Love Song assembled and commissioned works which focused upon the act of sex. In recent years numerous institutional exhibitions had elaborated ideas on love, often through the lens of emotional longing and the evolution and dissolution of relationships; other exhibitions sought to consider the figure of the nude within the canon of art history; while others concentrated on issues of the politicisation of the body, gender equity and sexual politics. This exhibition acknowledged many of the complexities of the issues drawn attention to through such curatorial and artistic endeavours, while signalling a focus that is more specifically oriented around corporeal connectivity, desire, liberation and risk.
This is Not a Love Song is not an exhibition about love, as its title suggests, but rather about how sex might be considered and represented within artistic practice. The exhibition focused on encounters of desire, lust and physical connectivity between consenting adults, while remaining attuned to notions of risk and vulnerability. Disentangled from the concept of love, while not dismissive of or adverse to it, the works presented establish a distance from concerns of sentimentality, abandonment, procreation or permanence. Featuring works spanning back to the early 1990s, the exhibition presents video, installation, printmaking and sculpture by a selection of artists from Australian and international artists.
This exhibition was intended for audiences over 18 years of age. It contained adult themes, nudity, sex scenes, coarse language and content that may not be suitable for all visitors.
Image: Justine Pluvinage, Fucking in Love (film still), 2014, courtesy of the artist
Public Program Events
Justine Pluvinage, Fucking in Love, 2014 (72 mins)
Valentine's Day Screening
Tuesday 14 February, 6pm sharp
200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC
‘The film originates from a break up and becomes a means to understand and to discover how we deal with sexuality, with love, with couples and with relationships. A protocol is set: have sex with men and film them just after making love; in this, a staggering quest filled with desire.' — Justine Pluvinage
Please note that this film is intended for audiences over eighteen years of age. It contains adult themes, nudity, sex scenes, coarse language and content that may not be suitable for all visitors.