Post by sacrilegend on Jun 1, 2007 10:09:54 GMT -5
Tracey Moffatt (1960- ), Australian artist using primarily photography and video.
Born Brisbane, 1960. Holds a degree in visual communications from the Queensland College of Art, graduating in 1992.
Her work is held in various international private and public collections including Albury Regional Art Gallery, Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Tate Modern (London), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Museet for Santidskunst (Oslo), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Tokyo), National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, BP Australia, Steve Vizard Foundation, NRMA Collection, Parliament House Collection Canberra.
Photography:
Tracey Moffatt first came to prominence in the Australian art world with her series Something More. Commisioned in 1989 by the Albury Regional Art Gallery and shot in the Link Studios in Wodonga, the series set the tone and themes of much of her later work. In a sequence of nine images, Something More is a loose narrative in which the artist puns on the possible meanings of the title and its veiled references to sadomasochism.
In the first image of the series Something More #1 Moffatt appears in the centre of frame in an Asian dress set against a hut in which a woman in a white dress leans against the door. Two children look on and a man in a coolie hat is seen in the background. The backdrop is painted and the image has the look of a film set. Moffatt's image seeks to confuse and disturb meanings of cultural identification while questioning the authenticity of the presentation by reinforcing its own 'fake' construction. The subsequent images in the series present variations on these ideas.
Moffatt's photographic series of works such as Pet Thang [1991] and Laudanum [1998] returned to the themes of Something More exploring mixed and sometimes obscure references to issues of sexuality, history, representation and race. Other series of images, notably Scarred for Life [1994]and Scarred for Life II [1999] again tackled these themes but which took the form of book or magazine illustrations with captions offering ironic and humorous commentaries on the images.
As her work progressed over the next decade, Moffatt began to explore narratives in more gothic settings. In Up in the Sky [1998] the artist's work again used a sequential narrative but instead of using fantasy settings, a story concerning Australia's "stolen generation" - Indigenous Australian children who were taken from their families and forcibly relocated under Government policy - was enacted and perfromed on location in Queensland's outback. In Invocations [2000] Moffatt used a non-specific locale for an opaque psychodrama which recalled Southern American fiction and fantasy films of the early 20th Century.
Moffatt's work since 2000 has retreated from specific locales and subject matter and become more explicitly concerned with fame and celebrity. Her series Fourth [2001] used images of sportspeople from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games coming fourth in their various competitions. Seeking to underline their outsider status, the images are treated so only the ignoble fourth place holder is highlighted.
Adventure Series [2004] is Moffatt's most unabashed fantasy series using painted backdrops, costumes and models [including the artist herself] to enact a soap opera like drama of doctors, nurses and pilots in a tropical setting. Under The Sign of Scorpio [2005] is a series 40 images in which the artist takes on the persona of famous women born - like the artist - under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The series reiterates the artist's ongoing interests in celebrity, alternate personas and constructed realities.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Moffat
Born Brisbane, 1960. Holds a degree in visual communications from the Queensland College of Art, graduating in 1992.
Her work is held in various international private and public collections including Albury Regional Art Gallery, Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Tate Modern (London), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Museet for Santidskunst (Oslo), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Tokyo), National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, BP Australia, Steve Vizard Foundation, NRMA Collection, Parliament House Collection Canberra.
Photography:
Tracey Moffatt first came to prominence in the Australian art world with her series Something More. Commisioned in 1989 by the Albury Regional Art Gallery and shot in the Link Studios in Wodonga, the series set the tone and themes of much of her later work. In a sequence of nine images, Something More is a loose narrative in which the artist puns on the possible meanings of the title and its veiled references to sadomasochism.
In the first image of the series Something More #1 Moffatt appears in the centre of frame in an Asian dress set against a hut in which a woman in a white dress leans against the door. Two children look on and a man in a coolie hat is seen in the background. The backdrop is painted and the image has the look of a film set. Moffatt's image seeks to confuse and disturb meanings of cultural identification while questioning the authenticity of the presentation by reinforcing its own 'fake' construction. The subsequent images in the series present variations on these ideas.
Moffatt's photographic series of works such as Pet Thang [1991] and Laudanum [1998] returned to the themes of Something More exploring mixed and sometimes obscure references to issues of sexuality, history, representation and race. Other series of images, notably Scarred for Life [1994]and Scarred for Life II [1999] again tackled these themes but which took the form of book or magazine illustrations with captions offering ironic and humorous commentaries on the images.
As her work progressed over the next decade, Moffatt began to explore narratives in more gothic settings. In Up in the Sky [1998] the artist's work again used a sequential narrative but instead of using fantasy settings, a story concerning Australia's "stolen generation" - Indigenous Australian children who were taken from their families and forcibly relocated under Government policy - was enacted and perfromed on location in Queensland's outback. In Invocations [2000] Moffatt used a non-specific locale for an opaque psychodrama which recalled Southern American fiction and fantasy films of the early 20th Century.
Moffatt's work since 2000 has retreated from specific locales and subject matter and become more explicitly concerned with fame and celebrity. Her series Fourth [2001] used images of sportspeople from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games coming fourth in their various competitions. Seeking to underline their outsider status, the images are treated so only the ignoble fourth place holder is highlighted.
Adventure Series [2004] is Moffatt's most unabashed fantasy series using painted backdrops, costumes and models [including the artist herself] to enact a soap opera like drama of doctors, nurses and pilots in a tropical setting. Under The Sign of Scorpio [2005] is a series 40 images in which the artist takes on the persona of famous women born - like the artist - under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The series reiterates the artist's ongoing interests in celebrity, alternate personas and constructed realities.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Moffat
