This year marks the 100th anniversary of more than 20,000 Australian and New Zealand troops landing in Gallipoli to fight in WWI. It was here that the ANZAC legend was born out of courage, endurance, sacrifice and mateship – establishing meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity today.
In commemoration, a number of public programs and special projects will take place to honour the ANZACs and all those who contributed to Australia’s military efforts in the last 100 years. As part of the Liverpool City Council’s ANZAC Centenary Commemoration, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre presents ‘Guarding the Home Front’, an exhibition that captures the ideas, themes and concerns of military conflicts around the world and explores the diverse notions of the home front experience, its costs and its impacts.
‘Guarding the Home Front’ showcases both emerging and established artists such as Penny Byrne, Sam Cranstoun, Bonita Ely, George Gittoes, Lucy Griggs, Fiona Hall, Freya Jobbins, eX de Medici, Michael Peck and Benjamin Tankard and presents work from celebrated official World War I and World War II artists from the Australian War Memorial including George Benson, Stella Bowen, Sybil Craig, Will Dyson, John Goodchild, George Lambert, Horace Moore-Jones, Katy Mutton and Sidney Nolan.
Also featuring Baden Pailthorpe, the Australian War Memorial’s first artist in residence, and compelling new works by Tony Albert, Jodi Daley, Phillip George and Guan Wei. This unique and diverse range of Australian artists present an intimate and unique portrayal on the many ways in which war and conflict have affected the social, cultural and political structures on the home front. From the silence of those who remain at home, awaiting the return of loved ones to the ruptured terror experienced by civilians in conflict zones; from the way media coverage and its portrayal of war, and how it shapes our own perspectives. Kiersten Fishburn, Director of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre says that “with these artists harnessing their personal journeys through conflicts, this exhibition sheds a unique light on the effect of war on the communities and the people at home. This exhibition is a homage to the unsung heroes on the home front that have done so much for this country.”
Tony Albert draws upon personal and collective histories to question how we understand and imagine difference. Albert’s grandfather was Private Eddie Albert, whose military and post-war experiences are an enduring source of inspiration to Albert’s practice, addressing a number of political, historical and cultural issues affecting Indigenous people, including increasing recognition, while also drawing attention to their place in Australia’s military history.
eX de Medici’s abhorrent approach to art making allows for a strong deliverance of her highly political ideas to quickly entice the viewer aesthetically before they can fully comprehend the provocative subject matter. Inspired by media coverage and global movements, de Medici critiques the ‘corporisation’ of war and the manufacturing of destructive objects – the machine gun. A prominent feature in her artworks often depicted with biological forms, cultural patterns and commercial symbols to create a dichotomous relationship between what she refers to as the life and death elements.
Through investigation, contemplation and interpretation around both present and past landscapes of military involvement and global conflicts, a deeper understanding of the home front and its interrelated spheres of conflict and loss can be achieved.
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Until 17 May, 2015
Sydney
Guan Wei, Paper War (still), 2014, animation, 3:00mins
Penny Byrne, War on Terror Waltz, 2009, porcelain figurines, vintage Action Man accessories, retouching medium, powder pigments, miniature War on Terror Service medal, epoxy resin, 26 x 21 x 15cm
Photography: Jeremy Dillon
Courtesy the artists, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney, and Deakin University Art Collection
