Juan Davila
9 September to 12 November 2006
Museum of Contemporary Art , Australia (MCA)
140 George Street
The Rocks
Sydney, Australia
Admission: (MCA members free)
One of Australias most influential and respected painters Juan Davila will be presented in a new light this spring at the Museum of Contemporary Art, with a major solo exhibition spanning thirty years of artistic practice.
Juan Davila opens 9 September 2006 and features seminal works such as Davilas epic 1980s murals, rarely seen Chilean pieces and new work created specifically for the show.
The Chilean-born artist, who relocated to Australia in 1974, is a passionate advocate for arts role to debate issues of social and political significance. Davilas complex, beautiful and challenging paintings are known for their thorough interrogation of cultural, sexual and social identities, within an international context.
Incorporating text, found objects, appropriated imagery, photography and other media Davilas paintings represent insightful critiques of themes including the Australian political system, the cultural aspects of late capitalism, the structures of the art world and sexuality.
More recently, Davila addressed the treatment of refugees in Australian detention centres in a series of nightmarish Woomera landscapes referencing the suffering of detainees.
Internationally recognised for his innovation in painting, Davila is represented in every major public collection in Australia, as well as New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo in Spain. He has exhibited widely throughout Australia, South and North America and Europe and was included in the 1982 and 1984 Biennale of Sydney.
A substantial monograph devoted to the artist, co-published by Melbourne University Publishing, will be released to accompany the exhibition, including full colour plates of over 150 works. The beautifully produced book features a powerful selection of paintings, installations and works on paper from the early 1970s to the present, as well as a selection of the artists incisive essays and written commentary on key works. Newly commissioned texts by British curator and critic Guy Brett and Australian art historian and curator Roger Benjamin examine the contexts and development of Davilas work, indicating the scope and sources of his art in Latin American popular culture, Australian visual culture, the history of art and political history.
Juan Davila is an MCA National touring exhibition and will show at the National Gallery of Victoria International from 30 November 2006 to 4 February 2007. Juan Davila is represented by Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art.
Juan Davila
9 September to 12 November 2006
Admission: (MCA members free)
MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Kym Elphinstone
t: 61 2 9245 2434
m: 61421 106 139
e: kym.elphinstone@mca.com.au
The Museum of Contemporary Art gratefully acknowledges the ongoing funding and support of the New South Wales Government and ‘Key Organisation’ grant funding from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. The MCA was established by the University of Sydney through the JW Power Bequest, with assistance of the New South Wales Government.
