Jacqueline Fraser - AN ELEGANT PORTRAIT REFINED IN ELEVEN STUDIOUS PARTS << a loose cannon speaks >>

Jacqueline Fraser – AN ELEGANT PORTRAIT REFINED IN ELEVEN STUDIOUS PARTS « a loose cannon speaks »

16 April 2003

Jacqueline Fraser has created a formal installation in the small gallery at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery that is governed by order and symmetry. The installation consists of eleven wall sculptures (one large and ten small) made from dark wire and a range of fabrics – from Yves St Laurent beaded organza to budget luxury braids. The wire, which has been twisted to form silhouettes, sharply delineates a female profile while the fabrics both adorn and cover it, creating blindfolds. Typical of Fraser’s work, each sculpture carries its own extended title on a text panel placed below that describes a ‘portrait’ humanised by adjectives that invoke emotions and other social sensitivities alongside coldly named accessories of war and destruction.

Fraser’s sculptures are harsh portraits of the society in which we live that blindly and complacently accepts violence and even actively invents the weapons needed to perpetuate it. Fraser’s work confronts us with political horrors clothed with the elegance of couture materiality.

Jacqueline Fraser has exhibited widely internationally in a career that spans more than two decades. In 2001-2 she had a solo exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and in 2001 she represented New Zealand in their inaugural presentation at the Venice Biennale. Also in 2001, Fraser was included in the Yokohama Triennale. An exhibition of her Venice Biennale work is presently on at City Gallery Wellington. Fraser’s work is held in every major public collection in New Zealand, the National Gallery of Australia as well as numerous private and corporate collections around the world. An elegant portrait refined in eleven studious parts « a loose cannon speaks » will be Fraser’s second solo exhibition with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.

Exhibition opening: Wednesday 16 April, 6 - 8pm
Exhibition dates: 16 April–17 May, 2003
Gallery hours: Tuesday - Friday 10am - 6pm, Saturday 11am - 6pm

Closed Easter weekend