HIDDEN FACES
The 2020 Victorian Salon des Refusés
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Cat #13 Sue Jarvis
MOTLEY IN CONTEMPLATION Oil on Canvas 81 cm h x 56 cm w $3,300 Artist’s Statement Joe Motley’s livelihood as a performance artist has been adversely affected by the present virus. Despite this, he recently expressed the following sentiment to me… “Fortunately, I have not lost anything but time, and honestly, time is never lost, just spent differently to what we might expect”. Joe’s performance is equally profound, dealing with notions of identity and inclusion. Joe has been my subject three times: one for a large square head study, another an atmospheric sundrenched seated study and then the stronger visual narrative of this study where colour and details are minimised. Joes hands are fine and expressive, whether in movement to illustrate an idea, or still, as in contemplation. I wanted to suggest Joe’s self-exploration and sensitivity in this work. It is impressive to see how Joe has guided teenagers to express themselves on video for the first time in community-run workshops. This portrait was submitted to the 2020 Archibald Prize. click on artwork to enlarge |