Artist Shaun Gladwell presents his work, MADDESTMAXIMVS: Planet & Stars Sequence (created as Australia’s contribution to the 2009 Venice Biennale), for two weeks only at the Institute of Modern Art. Influenced by his experiences in Australia’s landscape of the outback, his interest in extreme sports, and Mad Max movies, the work is a suite of videos accompanied by sound, photographic and sculptural works. Roadkill kangaroos are found on the side of highways by a black leather clad motorcyclist and given a ritualistic burial, a figure surfs a vehicle as it moves through desert roads, a masked individual rapidly paints and subsequently erases images of the universe in open arid settings, and a group of figures spin against natural rock formations.
Gladwell’s work critically engages personal history, memory and contemporary cultural phenomena through performance, video, painting and sculpture. He has exhibited in major national and international exhibitions; including The Mind is a Horse, Bloomberg Space, London (2001) and the Yokohama 2005 Triennale of Contemporary Art, Japan. Gladwell’s work was also represented in the 2006 Biennale in Busan (South Korea) and Sao Paulo (Brazil). In 2008 he exhibited in Sydney and Taipei Biennales. Shaun Gladwell was one of three Australian artists selected by Director Robert Storr to participate in the 52nd International Art Exhibition at Venice Biennale 2007.
Dates: Until Sat 17 July 2010
Time: Tue – Sat 11am – 5pm; Thu until 8pm
Venue: Institute of Modern Art, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
Tickets: FREE