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

JH

Orjis at Roger

AA
View Discussion
Detail of Richard Orjis installation, by quiet volcanoes. on the seat are painted ceramic 'books' by Tessa Laird. Orjis' installation at Melanie Roger. The yellow work on the wall is Land of 100 Lovers, 2012, ink on paper, edition of 3. next to it is by quiet volcanoes, 2012, ink on paper, ed of 10. Clouds, 2012, ink on paper, ed. of 3, next to Disc, 2012, ceramic and crystals Richard Orjis, by quiet volcanoes, 2012, ink on paper, ed of 10. 200 x 200 mm Richard Orjis, Paradise, soil and tea on paer, 1060 x 1460 mm Installation at Melanie Roger Richard Orjis, Milk and Honey, 2011, soil on paper, 1030 x 730 mm Richard Orjis, Shelter, 2011, soil on paper, 1030 x 730 mm Richard Orjis, Smokin' the Hive, 2011, soil on paper, 1030 x 730 mm Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Richard and Harry, 2012, single chanel digital video loop, 1.33 minutes.

He has constructed here a layered, openly theatrical model of the occult, mixing in homo-eroticism with overtones of manual labour, but without muscled brutality or sticky carnality. It has a sweetness and an innocent sense of play - and is gorgeously sensual with its trashy camp, glowing flowers, misshapen phallic symbols and flames of passion.

Auckland

 

Richard Orjis
by quiet volcanoes
Featuring work by Rebecca Ann Hobbs and Tessa Laird

 

13 June - 7 July 2012

Richard Orjis is well known for his amazing colour photographs of dirt encrusted young men clutching bundles of orchids or other flowers, grimy muddy earth (sometimes coal dust) smeared over their faces, shoulders and torso, and kneaded into their hair - the exotic looking petals and stems glowing radiantly.

As artists are wont to be Orjis can be contrary, and so for this slot during Auckland’s yearly photography festival there is not a photograph to be seen, though there is a Rebecca Ann Hobbs video showing him and his friend (and contributor to Orjis’ new book, Park) Harry McNaughton walking up and down a path to the top of Mount Mangere.

Orjis is often fixated on a form of magic ritual he has devised that uses tinselly streamer wigs, grille masks, various glittery objects and lumpy ceramic candle-sticks (on a picnic table) to advocate what he calls ‘The Empire of Dirt’. And in the tradition of seventies English ‘earth artist’ Richard Long he also makes drawings on paper using mud.

He has constructed here a layered, openly theatrical model of the occult, mixing in homo-eroticism with overtones of manual labour, but without muscled brutality or sticky carnality. It has a sweetness and an innocent sense of play - and is gorgeously sensual with its trashy camp, glowing flowers, misshapen phallic symbols and flames of passion. Drawings of long-haired boys (in the book), orchids and fruit celebrate earth as a messy surface covering material as well as possibly a symbol of place.

The fact that the main sculptural presence in this exhibition is a picnic table says a great deal. The ritual is like a recreational outing, a relaxed drive on a Sunday afternoon (as shown by Hobbs). It’s informal, and so the dirt can be casually washed off: it is anti-essentialist, not embedded deeply as ‘truth.’

These props are distancing devices. They speak about art itself, visual gratification and entertainment, but make no claims for spiritual profundity - if such a thing is possible. They are deeply Warholian in that sense. They are flip but also mentally engaging.

John Hurrell

Print | Facebook | Twitter | Email

 

Recent Posts by John Hurrell

JH
Installation of Bambury and May works at Sumer

Wall-Reflected vs Frontal, Directly-Radiating Colour

SUMER

Stephen Bambury & Anne-Marie May

 

The Still Point of the Turning World

 

26 March - 26 April 2025

JH
Virginia Leonard, Eating with Blue Blood and Village Knickers, 2025, clay, resin and lustre, 400 x 500mm plus ceramic tray.

Leonard’s Aesthetic….Hmm?

GOW LANGSFORD GALLERY

Virginia Leonard

 

The Wedding Breakfast: An Ode to Olly

 

26 March - 19 April 2025

JH
George Watson, Fields 3, detail,  hand dyed silk, fence batons, staples, 2300 x 230 mm overall

George Watson at Coastal Signs

COASTAL SIGNS

George Watson

 

The Farm

 

7 March - 12 April 2025

JH
Laith McGregor, S.O.S., 2025, clay and enamel, dimensions variable.

Performing Magic (with Anxiety)

STARKWHITE

Laith McGregor

 


Long Days, Longer Nights

 


15 March - 15 April 2025