Anne Zahalka: The Landscape Revisited
Anne Zahalka
Down on His Luck, 2017
Pigment ink on rag paper
Image courtesy of the artist and ARC ONE Gallery
Photographed in Beechworth, The Landscape Revisited explored the imagery of iconic Australian paintings and included works by Frederick McCubbin, Tom Roberts, Jane Sutherland, Sidney Nolan and Russell Drysdale.
These images were carefully staged to reconstruct the celebrated paintings - showcased with a different cast, exploring ideas of belonging, displacement, discrimination, exile and home.
From the earliest representations of the Australian landscape in art and literature through to modern day advertising and the film industry, romanticising the bush has become inextricably woven into Australian identity and mythology.
Working with iconic images from Australian art, Anne Zahalka explored the construction of a less romantic, less masculine and less Anglo-centric image of Australia.
The continued celebration of the Heidelberg School and the consequent resurgence of nationalism that their work elicits seem strangely inappropriate to a population that is primarily urban and multicultural. Rewriting these familiar images, Anne Zahalka examined their stereotyes while she subverted and challenged them with a humorous and critical voice.
Exhibition curated by Rita Lazauskas.
