Tag Archives: subversive

Fiona hall - big game hunting

5 most subversive contemporary women artists of Australia

The guerrilla girls told me that women are poorly represented in art history back in 2001 . Things haven’t changed that much and being the arse end of the universe (strayla mate ) really doesn’t help.  However, I Object to this article because most of its women were not born this century, nor are they australian  have  kind of tripe that passes for art criticism in some news …(should I call them vendors ? ) snail news?  whatever.
*the list is not remotely ordered 

Offending article: Some dude telling me who’s a subversive female artist..right.

  • 1) Fiona Hall  – Its hard to find words but she’s always shifting mediums,  from her early soap carvings to her installations she never fails to delight me. Always contemporary, always questioning .

    Fiona hall - big game hunting

    Fiona hall – big game hunting

  • 2) Tracey Moffatt – brave ,she takes no prisoners from her early works which cause Australian critics to  ask questions about authorship which are still relevant today eg : “If she didn’t press the button is she really the photographer ?
    To these beautiful mashups  like “other” that question identity culture and otherness in ways that make me laugh and cry simultaneously .

    OTHER by Tracey Moffatt from Momentum Worldwide on Vimeo.
  • 3) Emily Kame Kngwarreye – “I did batik at first, and then after doing that I learned more and more and then I changed over to painting for good…Then it was canvas. I gave up on…fabric to avoid all the boiling to get the wax out. I got a bit lazy – I gave it up because it was too much hard work. I finally got sick of it…I didn’t want to continue with the hard work batik required – boiling the fabric over and over, lighting fires, and using up all the soap powder, over and over. That’s why I gave up batik and changed over to canvas – it was easier. My eyesight deteriorated as I got older, and because of that I gave up batik on silk – it was better for me to just paint.” 
  • 4)Patricia Piccinini – It’s hard for me to include her I never saw her as a maker and in that, she challenges the very assumptions of craftsmanship in art. She is  more of an art producer than an artisan. However the recent controversy over the  “sky whale” really won me over. I’m not sure if I can think of a more subversive act than a massive floating whale with pendulous breasts hanging over the nations capital.
  • 5) Linda Dement  –cyberflesh girl monster need I say more?  I had the luck to be present at one of her performances at  Canberra School of the Art where she hung upside down in goggles and a swimming cap and told all the lecturers and senior academics art history is bullshit.  Her middle name is subversive . Not to mention theres no wiki page for her.