THE TROUBLE WITH BOYS
March 14, 2007 - April 1, 2007
PRESS RELEASE
The Trouble with Boys looks at a cross section of Australian maleness. Four artists face off with very divergent views of art and Australian masculinity.
James Drew’s short film takes us into the world of boys. Mucking around, out at night, full of beer, bravado and aggression. A male idea of fun.
And if you live in Melbourne, you will have seen Michael Porter’s heads glaring down at you from a wall somewhere. But now they come in off the streets and onto the gallery walls, along with his smaller heads and figures, cast in bronze. This is an obsession that knows no bounds.
There are more heads from Chong and Konrad Winkler. Older heads this time. Chong’s small, intimate drawings of well-known writers and artists are outtakes from his life, & done out of habit rather than for any purpose. Portraits caught on the fly (on the sly) during a meeting or a conversation. They are the opposite of official images.
Winkler’s photos are of artists who haven’t given up in spite of their years, still making art instead of a proper living. They have more persistence than worldly ambition, and an abiding faith in art that makes the often crappy life worthwhile, in the hope perhaps that they will leave something behind that is of lasting value.
Konrad Winkler, Curator, February 2007
