MONA: SEVEN SISTERS: THE SAILING ONES

An exhibition by Liam James 2014 MONA SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT Saturday 10 October – Monday 2 November, 2015 Museum of Old and New Art

This October, the 2014 Mona Scholarship recipient and emerging Tasmanian artist, Liam James, presents Seven Sisters: The Sailing Ones at Mona, curated by Jarrod Rawlins.

The exhibition is the culmination of a year’s work, resulting in seven large photographic allegories broadly addressing themes of sadness, displacement, beauty and nationhood. By dressing up and stripping back Australian mythology and national identity, the images serve as a presentation of an alternative cultural patriotism, at the same time questioning it. Paradoxes emerge as James explores his own identity within contemporary Australian youth culture.

“This was the first time I had made work to be exhibited within a private institution,” artist Liam James says. “When making the works, I felt it was important to be aware of the works in the Mona collection as well.

“The Mona Scholarship show was a different project to any I’ve worked on. It’s more ambitious, and in the process I’ve pushed out into new spaces and into a new sense of professionalism.

“I’m still working-class-poor, drunk far too often, smoke more than I would like, and I never read as much as I should – so if I have changed through this experience, I’ve become more passionate about this line of enquiry; trying to make sense of our national identity. “A project like this [Mona scholarship show] could mean a lot, depending on where you take it. I have a few upcoming projects that will be different from this show, but for me this line of enquiry is not over; this is just another step in my practice.”

James lists a diverse set of influences in his practice, from Greek mythology to Australian artists Tracey Moffatt and Christian Thompson; Wang Qingsong (China) and Rineke Dijkstra (Netherlands); to more traditional art works in the Western canon, such as Sidney Nolan’s ‘Leda and the Swan’, referenced in the title of one of James’ works, ‘Leda and the Sydney Swan’; as well as romantic literary works from Charles Baudelaire, Vladimir Nabokov and Australian writers and playwrights, Nick Enright and Alan Seymour.

There will be a catalogue to accompany the exhibition, available for purchase at the Mona shop.

All about Liam James …

Born 1990 in Launceston, Tasmania Lives and works Hobart, Tasmania Liam James is a Tasmanian-born artist and curator. James completed his Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of Tasmania in 2010, and went on to study Honours at The Australian National University. Since then James has been involved with several galleries across the state, in a range of roles, and has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2014 he was the recipient of a Rosamund McCulloch Studio Residency in Paris and is currently the 2014 Mona Scholarship recipient.

About the Mona Scholarship …

For more than a decade, the Museum of Old and New Art has offered an art prize for emerging Tasmanian artists, now amounting to a $15,000 scholarship annually for one artist to realise their works. The Mona Scholarship is not a cash prize – it is money for making art, which is to be used to purchase materials and equipment towards an exhibition at Mona, 12 months later. One artwork from that exhibition is selected for inclusion in Mona’s permanent evolving collection, while the remainder of works are available for sale to the public, with the artist pocketing the profit. As of 2014, the Mona Scholarship has awarded 17 Tasmanian artists more than $215,000.
 
www.mona.net.au/scholarship
MONA