Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to EyeContact. You are invited to respond to reviews and contribute to discussion by registering to participate.

JH

Facing The Future

AA
View Discussion
Roberta Thornley, Celeste, 2010, 780 x 520 mm Installation at Tim Melville Gallery Roberta Thornley, Sean I, 2010, 780 x 520 mm Roberta Thornley, Dominic, 2010, 780 x 520 mm Roberta Thornley, Arun, 2010, 780 x 520 mm Roberta Thornley, Hayley, 2010, 780 x 520 mm Roberta Thornley, Sean II, 2010, 780 x 520 mm

The females seem distressed or highly apprehensive while the males are comparatively confident. The guys are impassive but not cocky - just self contained, and at ease with themselves and the world. There is a clear separation between the sexes.

Auckland

 

Roberta Thornley
Tomorrow

 

8 June - 3 July 2010

In this suite of six photographs, Roberta Thornley, more known for her mysterious glowing objects on the back lawn, instead now looks at youth, the mental and bodily development of late teenage years. While the model’s pale faces and torsos glow in the darkness this exhibition is really about anxiety. It is interesting because the young women exude it (as constructed by the artist with props, or direction) and not the young men - who seem more self preoccupied and with an inner confidence. Nevertheless both sexes seem vulnerable.

The females seem distressed or highly apprehensive while the males are comparatively confident. The guys are impassive but not cocky - just self contained and at ease, with themeselves and the world. There is a clear separation between the sexes.

Also the males tend to show upper torso, head and shoulders while the females, mainly neck and head. The best works for both sexes are in three-quarter view or in profile - being highly reminiscent of early Renaissance painters like Ghirlandiao, Baldovinetti or Piero della Fransesca - but with a glowing light reminiscent of Carravagio who came later on, though much colder. The reference to Quattrocento painting seems deliberate on Thornley’s part, and the temperature of the light is more Dutch than Italian.

Thornley’s work here is halfway between Yvonne Todd’s interest in facial nuances that oddly disturb, and Robyn Hoonhout’s portraits of the elderly. Thornley’s young faces are not for example, creepy; instead most have an openness, an appealing lack of subterfuge, a willingness to display emotion that is genuine - not manipulative. Unlike say Bill Henson there is no narrative going on, only an examination of introspective interiority.

The title of the exhibition Tomorrow implies a looking at the future from their point of view of emergence into adulthood. An unusual position for an artist who is herself in her mid twenties. And Thornley has a knack of picking for her purposes really expressive faces that are memorable, that carry a psychological maturity or incipient wisdom. The only thing I find slightly jarring is an aspect of the presentation: the black framing which for my tastes is a pinch too narrow and close to the image.(It needs a buffering mount.)  A quibble; for these carefully constructed images are hauntingly mysterious and thoughtful in their exploration of character and the mental stages of life that many people go through. Quite special.

John Hurrell

Print | Facebook | Twitter | Email

 

Recent Posts by John Hurrell

JH
Gretchen Albrecht, Receptum, 1988, gouache and collage on paper, six panels, 2140 x 4700 mm (overall)

Collaging Albrecht

TE URU WAITAKERE CONTEMPORARY GALLERY

Titirangi

 

Gretchen Albrecht
Liquid States


3 November 2024 - 2 February 2025

JH
Ralph Paine, À la Leibnitz, eight framed drawings of watercolour and pencil. Each 230 x 310 mm.

Paine as Fan Boy

CHARLES NINOW

Auckland

 

Ralph Paine
Leaves From a Pillow Book

 

December 5 - December 21, 2024

JH
Installation shot of Veronica Herber's Making My Way Home exhibition at Melanie Roger.

Herber’s Torn Tape Graphite Grids

MELANIE ROGER GALLERY

Auckland

 

Veronica Herber
Making My Way Home


14 November - 7 December 2024

JH
Heather Straka, Age of Discovery The Painter, 2021, archival pigment on Photorag Ultrasmooth, 765 x 1135 mm.

Constructed Straka Photographs

TRISH CLARK GALLERY

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

 

Heather Straka
Isolation Hotel

 

26 November - 21 December 2024