GOMA celebrates lauded artist and tattooist eX de Medici with a beautifully wicked retrospective
While beautiful to look at, art can be used as a window into the maker’s soul, a vessel for cultural change, an inspiration for dialogue and much more than meets the eye. From late June to October, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art will see a collision of two of the art world’s greatest, allowing visitors to experience two irresistible exhibitions as one. One half of this extraordinary exhibition is Beautiful Wickedness, the most significant exhibition to date celebrating the work of renowned Australian artist eX de Medici.
Spanning a more than 40-year career, Canberra artist and tattooist eX de Medici uses her art as an exploration of the human experience from the fragility of life and global affairs, to the universal themes of power, conflict and death. Her main method of art, the watercolour, creates contradictions from its delicate nature with a surreptitious yet razor-sharp underbelly of themes from consumerism and the long reach of systems of surveillance, authority and control, to domestic violence and the misuse of power. From June 24 to October 2, Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art is showcasing career retrospective eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness, which boasts more than 100 of the artist’s works.
Beautiful Wickedness follows de Medici’s ephemeral early works including ‘Scene from an Ivory Tower (Pistol)’ and blood swabs from clients post-tattoo in ‘The Blood of Others’, to her most recent series of large-scale watercolours, within which she fuses moths and weapons of war, denouncing the futility of war and its impact on the planet. Contributing to her extensive repertoire are eX de Medici’s watercolour works from her career inception including ‘Blue’, ‘Red’ and ‘The Theory of Everything’, which act as a mirror to complex social and political ideas, foregrounded by themes of coercive control and domestic violence. These works will feature alongside related works of decorative art, such as ‘Shotgun Wedding’, based on the bridal gown that Julie Andrews wore in The Sound Of Music, and ‘The Seat of Love and Hate‘ – a juxtaposition of hyper-femininity and hyper-masculinity through an intricately detailed seat of floral motifs alongside a dark palette of assorted weapons.
As part of the exhibition, ‘The Alien Others’ – an immersive children’s program with hands-on art making and online interactions – aims to encourage children to consider the important role that insects play in our world and the steps we must take to protect their habitats. Plus, if you want to delve a little deeper into eX de Medici’s Beautiful Wickedness, opt in to the Artist Conversation on June 24 as she discusses the symbiosis of art and science with esteemed entomologist, Dr Marianne Horak.
Located adjacent to the Beautiful Wickedness exhibition will be Michael Zavros – The Favourite, celebrating the prowess of an extraordinary mind through a showcase of over 90 paintings, sculptures, videos and photographs by the renowned Queensland artist. Keep an eye on The Weekend Edition next week for a deep dive into this exploration of Michael Zavros’ remarkable work.
These two irresistible exhibitions collide to create a bespoke experience from two of the greats, allowing you to dig deep and dissect the passions and underlying messages seeped into each artist’s work, while being able to follow the artist’s trajectory from their skeletons of premature works, now full bodied with experience, certainty and unrelenting passion. Art lovers, rejoice – a single ticket provides entry into both of these sensational exhibitions.
This article was written in partnership with QAGOMA. To view the full list of exhibitions currently on, visit the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art website.
Image 1. eX de Medici, Australia b.1959 / The theory of everything (detail) 2005 / Watercolour and metallic pigment on Arches paper / 114.3 x 176.3cm / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © eX de Medici
Image 2. eX de Medici / Australia b.1959 / The Seat of Love and Hate (detail) 2017–18 / Embroidered silk, gilded wood / 89 x 145 x 65cm / Commissioned by MAAS with support from the MAAS Foundation, 2018 / Collection: Powerhouse, Sydney / Photograph: Michael Myers
Image 3. eX de Medici / Australia b.1959 /Skull (Blue and Green) (detail) 2004/ Watercolour on paper / 106 x 115cm (irreg.) / Purchased 2004. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © eX de Medici
Image 4. eX de Medici / Australia b.1959 / Blue (Bower/Bauer) (detail) 1998–2000 / Watercolour over pencil on paper / 114 x 152.8cm / Purchased 2004 / Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra / © eX de Medici
Image 5. eX de Medici / Artist / Australia b.1959 / Yianni Liangis, Collaborator (detail) / Gloria Grady Design, Dressmaker / Rob Little Digital Images, Photographer / Think Positive Prints, Printer / Shotgun Wedding Dress/Cleave 2015 / Digitally printed silk / 240 x 48 x 237cm / Purchased 2015 / Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra / © eX de Medici
Image 6. eX de Medici / Australia b.1959 / CSIRO/ANIC Study#372001 (detail) / Watercolour with gouache on paper / 15 x 26cm (image); 38.4 x 28.6cm; 15 x 26cm (comp.) / Purchased 2002 / Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra / © eX de Medici
To find out more about what’s on in Brisbane, head to our Event Guide.
