eX de Medici has been a strident and consistent critic of humanity’s relentless quest to dominate the natural world, and the technologies that have enabled this behaviour. Her unremitting and ‘forensic’ exploration of the weapon has developed alongside her morbid fascination with the long reach of digital technology.
For instance, her watercolours The Theory of Everything 2005 (illustrated) and Live the (Big Black) Dream 2006 (illustrated) include a satellite and a CCTV camera, respectively, hidden among other human-generated detritus, in reference to government- and corporate-sponsored surveillance and control.
Delve closely into these remarkably intricate large scale watercolours and more in the exhibition ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane until 2 October 2023.
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Your ticket to ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ provides entry to two exhibitions on your day of visit, including ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’.
GOMA, until 2 October 2023
‘The theory of everything’ 2005
‘Live the (Big Black) Dream’ 2006
With the rise of the internet and social media, de Medici has become increasingly alarmed at the prevalence and sophistication of the telecommunication systems that have infiltrated our lives, leading her to conclude that:
We live in an era of . . . the masked terrorist and tactical police alike, of confessional, anonymous Facebook life . . . I’ve collected these images [of barbarism] since the global news broadcast of a phone video showing the [2006] lynching of Saddam Hussein by an hysterical, screaming, and chaotic gang of hooded men . . . I knew instantly from that moment, everything had changed about how the screen, instead of entertaining us, was shaping a new code of values . . . The new screen life hunts everything down . . . Technology is terraforming the global landscape, a vast and exponential Earth-shaping web of insider-trading, corruption, and distractions. Technology is terraforming the hive mind.
De Medici has persistently voiced these concerns in artworks such as the panoramic Spies Like Us 2016 (illustrated) and other watercolours from the exhibition of that name, including Asleep While Awake 2016–17 (illustrated) and The Great Acceleration 2017 (illustrated), employing the analogue language of pigment on paper, rather than the machinery she critiques.
‘Spies Like Us’ 2016
‘Asleep While Awake’ 2016–17
‘The Great Acceleration’ 2017
‘The Law (Ops)’ 2013–14
‘Protecting Your Insecurity’ 2018
‘Big Spies’ 2014–15
The 208-page exhibition publication eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness is available at QAGOMA Stores or online.
‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ in 1.2 and 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery) at GOMA from 24 June until 2 October 2023 is the most significant exhibition of work by celebrated Australian artist eX de Medici yet staged. The survey will examine the artist’s central concerns, including the fragility of life, global affairs, greed and commerce, and the universal themes of power, conflict, and death.
‘Beautiful Wickedness’ offers opportunities for dialogue with ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite‘ presented in the adjacent gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery) and 1.2. Immerse yourself in these two irresistible exhibitions from leading Australian artists. Your ticket provides entry to both exhibitions on your day of visit. Buy timed tickets in advance to guarantee entry. Last session 4.00pm daily. Exhibition closes at 5.00pm. Full-day Flexi Ticket also available.
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