NetsVictoria

Exhibitions

• Cut with the kitchen knife
• Dreamweavers
• Spirit in the Land
• Jus' Drawn: The proppaNOW collective
• Past Exhibitions
  • Mary and Max: The Exhibition
  • The Stony Rises Project
  • The Shilo Project
  • Simryn Gill: Inland
  • Other side art
  • Objects to Live By / The Art of John Meade
    • John Meade
    • Introduction
    • Destinations
    • Project Team
  • Hall of Mirrors
  • How you make it
  • Loop
  • Enchanted Forest
  • Murray Cod: The biggest fish in the river
  • Come on the Scene
  • The world in painting
  • Walk

Introduction

My earliest direct encounter with the art of John Meade occurred relatively recently, in the artist's studio. In production were some of his most recent works of art including Sabrina (2009). Chance encounters with found objects are the starting points for Meade's complex, carefully constructed and often witty, works of art. In the studio space these reference points were interspersed within an array of sculptural forms that were in various stages of completion.

Meade's works reference various artistic conventions of the twentieth century whilst continuing to be at the forefront of contemporary art practice. His use of unconventional forms and industrial synthetic materials, such as polymer resin composites and concretes, sit in contrast to those employed by his four fellow studio artists, each working within more traditional sculptural conventions, at the historic Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park. Unexpectedly however, many of the slick, seductive surfaces of Meade's work that appear machined finished are actually laboriously hand crafted.

As one of Australia's leading sculptors, Meade has presented works as part of a multitude of important group exhibitions such as 21st Century Modern, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia (2006); This was the future... Australian Sculpture of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and Today, Heide Museum of Modern Art; and Orifice, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (2003). Objects to Live By is the first occasion that a significant body of this artist's work, traversing twenty years and ranging in scale and media, has been brought together for a national touring exhibition.

Meade's oeuvre comprises work that is scaled to both domestic and gallery interiors, and to outdoor and architectural contexts. Whilst Meade's major outdoor commissions are not able to be seen within the context of this exhibition, they are profiled both within the exhibition catalogue and the film commissioned specifically for this project.

The logistics of moving large scale, three dimensional works of art around the country can be prohibitively complex for many artists and organisations. We are grateful to the artist and curator for their incredible commitment and enthusiasm in bringing this exhibition to audiences across the country, and thankful to the significant support received for this touring exhibition from the Federal government's Visions of Australia program.

We are pleased to present Australian audiences with Objects to Live By / The Art of John Meade - a significant body of work from an outstanding artist.

Georgia Cribb
Director, National Exhibitions Touring Support (NETS) Victoria

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