The exhibition highlights the disruptive influence of Marcel Duchamp, one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century.
On the 50th anniversary of his death in 1968, and 50 years since a major touring exhibition of his work at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Curator Anna Louise Richardson has brought together the work of six locally based artists for whom Duchamp’s work continues to provoke.
Opening night
Friday 31 August at 6pm
Free admission - Register to attend here
“The artists have been commissioned for HERE&NOW18: Besides, it is always the others who die to create new artworks influenced by the legacy of Marcel Duchamp. The opportunities here are seemingly endless as one could argue a Duchampian
bent on all ideas. That’s his legacy!” says Richardson.
HERE&NOW18 showcases works from Western Australian contemporary artists Dr Perdita Phillips, Dr Alex Spremberg, Carly
Lynch, Peter & Molly, Julie Dowling, and Bjoern Rainer-Adamson.
“This selection of artists is quite eclectic - the perfect match for the intellect and audacity of Marcel Duchamp,” says Richardson.
In addition, she has included a film made by Duchamp in 1926 called Anemic Cinema and chosen items from the T.D. Picton Warlow & J.J. Robson private collection of Marcel Duchamp artworks and ephemera, and State Records Office of Western Australia to provide additional context.
Engaging with his themes of duality, process and disruption, HERE&NOW18 aims to interrogate Duchamp as an artist offering
new interpretations and oppositions between the works of Duchamp and those of Western Australian artists in 2018.
Richardson says, “The artists have created works that are contemporary and responsive, not referential. They interrogate
the man and the myth and pay homage to the irreversible changes to contemporary art attributed to Duchamp.”
Not surprisingly the range and scope of the artists’ works are diverse, matching Duchamp’s quixotic practice. From a wall of
painted, spinning 12-inch records, to video performance, to painting and mechanical assemblage, the six artists chosen by
Richardson continue to push at the boundaries around our conception of art, just as Duchamp did in 1913 when he placed a
bicycle wheel on a stool to make the first ‘readymade’ sculpture.
“I have always really wanted to work on HERE&NOW. The annual exhibition is a highlight of the Perth art calendar, it is an
honour and a privilege to curate the 2018 iteration,” says Richardson.