John Meade @ PICA

From PICA | 02 Sep 2010

Objects To Live By: The Art of John Meade

The Perth Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to present Objects to Live By: The Art of John Meade, the first major survey exhibition of one of Australia’s leading sculptors.

Featuring more than 17 sculptural works ranging in scale from intimate objects on table tops to architecturally scaled wall works, this exhibition brings together Meade’s larger floor-based and suspended forms, smaller 'table sculptures', and an ensemble from a collaborative installation.

Often employing geometry and soft organic forms, John Meade works in an intuitive way to materialise his ideas, creating tightly orchestrated pieces that explore the metaphysical, the surreal and the fetishistic. Tapping into the real and the subconscious, playing with scale and expectation, Meade uses minimalism and messiness, the deliberate and the accidental, to explore extremes of form and intensities of emotion.

Johhn Meade is a critically acclaimed Melbourne-based artist who has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions since 1995. His work is also held in numerous collections, including those of Monash University; the Museum of Contemporary Art; Heide Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Victoria.

This is an important and timely exhibition that will allow visitors to experience Meade’s unique creative processes and ideas, including his experimentation with conventional sculptural materials and newer synthetic industrial materials (such as polymer resin composites and synthetic concrete). It provides valuable insights into the private development of his sculptural practice over more than a decade and his significant contribution to Australian art.

“The art object's social function is assured, bringing the artist and the audience closer together, negotiating a social space (the gallery) that is more porous than ever before... One object in particular, a half-cone with a tapered, tail-like end, only became complete when reflected in the mirror-top, while the small stack of egg-like shapes was doubled in size. Presence is heightened through perceptual illusion, and disappears as soon as the works are removed from their place.”
Russell Storer, Artlink, Vol 21 No. 2.

Objects to Live By: The Art of John Meade will be at PICA from
11 September–24 October 2010
Exhibition Opening: Friday, 10 September, 6pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, 11 September, 12pm
John Meade together with Curator Zara Stanhope will lead a public tour of the show