Body language on show at UQ art exhibition

A new exhibition at The University of Queensland Art Museum explores how artists use the body’s sensory language to shape political thought.

Cross Pose: Body language against the grain curator and UQ Senior Lecturer in Art History Dr Sally Butler said the exhibition brought together Australian works from the UQ Art Collection that drew on visual languages of the body to question and challenge thinking.

“The artworks pose questions about Australian identity, the way Aboriginal people have been categorised as primitive, and ideas about who or what authenticates a person’s identity,” Dr Butler said.

“The bodies featured in these artworks generate ideas and emotions that are beyond the scope of words, while sensory triggers in the imagery aim to realign social attitudes and political thinking.”

The exhibition stems from Dr Butler’s research into interdisciplinary approaches to Indigenous art.

“Being able to draw from a significant collection of contemporary Indigenous art from the UQ Art Collection helped to focus on the recurring motif of the body and how it’s been used to shape thinking in a different way to words and text,” she said.

“The selected artworks are predominantly by Indigenous Australians who draw on life-long expertise in negotiating different cultures and languages to both declare and contest the status of identity.

“By also presenting a number of artworks by non-Indigenous artists, the exhibition seeks to provide counterpoints in narratives about Australian cultures, and helps to tease out the complexity of Indigenous perspectives.”

Featured artists include Tony Albert, Dave Hullfish Bailey + Sam Watson, Richard Bell, Gordon Bennett, Michael Cook, Debbie Coombes, Ray Crooke, Robert Dowling, Mabel Edmunds, Samantha Hobson, Christopher Pease, Luke Roberts, and Darren Siwes.

Cross Pose: Body language against the grain will open at the UQ Art Museum on 15 May and run until 9 August 2015.

Media opportunities for interviews and photographs with artist Darren Siwes and curator Dr Sally Butler:

Where: UQ Art Museum, University Drive, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

When: 10-11am Friday 15 May.

Public program: Friday 15 May,11-noon, Darren Siwes artist talk with curator Dr Sally Butler at the UQ Art Museum. 

Download images for print and web here.

Media: Media: Sonia Uranishi, +61 409 387 623, sonia@soniauranishicommunication.com or Sebastian Moody, +61 7 3346 8761, s.moody@uq.edu.au.