Opening at Gaffa on Thursday October 21, 6-8pmClosing November 16 281 Clarence Street, Sydney CBD 2000 gaffa.com.au
Post Exhibition Blues Anticipating the Aftermath
Sydney artist Mark Gerada takes an at once ironic and serious look at the creative process in his latest series 'Post Exhibition Blues' showing at Gaffa from October 21st to November 16th 2010. Referring to the sense of disappointment or unfulfilled expectation that many artists experience following exhibitions, Gerada's 'Post Exhibition Blues' series sees him tackling his Post Exhibition Blues in the best way he knows how: with yet another exhibition.
As Gerada explains; "At first intended to be a joke, upon reflection I realised that this Post Exhibition Blues phenomena has parallels in all our lives. From post-natal, post-graduation, post-party, post-wedding or post-travel blues, to the deep grief after the loss of a loved one, we are often emotionally unprepared for the aftermath of monumental life experiences and the reality of loss and endings."
Exploring the innate connectedness of grief and loss with life and beginnings, Post Exhibition Blues takes a light-emitting underwater cave that links the Inland Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in Gozo, Malta, as its central image and motif. Alluding to the many passages we all travel through in life, paintings, light boxes, videos and sound pieces centre on softly glowing vortexes to create shimmering, pulsating reincarnations of Gerada's otherworldly experience in the cave.
Dancing between light and dark, life and death, comfort and discomfort, sanity and insanity, quiet and chaos, this series of over 40 works unite mediums and disparate concepts. Photocopies of found images and photographs from within the cave are subtly layered, while melodic and discordant vocals hauntingly amplify the rhythmic and mesmerising effect of the at once revelatory and concealing visuals.
Although based on a range of difficult experiences, a sense peace emerges from the works " I hope that by translating raw, confronting and terrifying ideas into simple meditative forms this series can inspire some peace and acceptance of these realities" says Gerada. Adopting an approach of awareness, anticipation and acceptance of Post Exhibition Blues, and an understanding that perfection is unobtainable, this powerful exhibition is an at once celebratory and cathartic gesture. However the question remains: will Gerada experience Post Exhibition Blues after Post Exhibition Blues?
