Author Description

An exhibition catalogue containing images and 'Painted Bodies' a catalogue essay by Carly Lane. Perth Centre for Photography, Western Australia 13 June - 14 July 2014 Darren Siwes: Oz Omnium Rex Et Regina and Mulaga Gudgerie combines the artist's 2008 and 2013 photo series. Set five years apart, the two series sit like episodes in a continuing story. Each photo is a portrait and each person a figure of optimism. Aboriginal men, women and young adults painted in colours of power - bronze, silver, gold and white - feature in 'hypothetical realisms'; scenes where existing class and cultural hierarchy disappear. Siwes suspends reality and imagines new possibilities, including equality for all. What if Aboriginal men and women were heads of State? What if an Aboriginal woman was Queen, would we revere her? Together, these portraits rouse attention to what actually is, what's constructed and what can be. They also emphasise the body as a site of politics. Michel Thévoz says there is 'no body but the painted body' - marked by culture and society. But as Siwes shows, the painted body is this and more. Darren Siwes (b 1968) lives and works in Adelaide and is represented by Greenaway Art Gallery. Note: Mulaga Gudgerie means man woman. Carly Lane 18 May 2014