Configured

Configured was an exciting selection of contemporary representational painting from established mid-career and early career Perth artists. Curated by Kevin Robertson, Configured situated figurative practice in a distinctly postmodern context by selecting artists who chose to re-work images from the past and explore contemporary imagery. The exhibition also included a younger generation of artists exploring representation. From Kevin Robertson’s unconventional figure studies to Jo Darbyshire’s haunting under-water jellyfish paintings to Garry Pumphrey’s suburban delis and Joanna Lamb’s uneasy representations of the suburban landscape, this show contained a diverse range of subjects and styles. Together, the collection of works was a comprehensive look at the state of figurative painting in Perth. "Up the rusty staircase towards the studio door. Your footsteps make a dull pong…pong… sound like a medieval bell. It let everyone in the building sense in an almost subliminal way that someone’s arriving…This is the staircase to Gotham Studios in Perth, the origin of this exhibition.

All the artists in this show had, at some stage, held a studio at Gotham, often referred to as the longest running artists’ space in the city."

Kevin Robertson, curator, Configured.