The past decade has seen a sharp rise in Benjamin Armstrong's profile, carving a nook in Australia's contemporary art scene with his intriguing sculptures, paintings and prints. The current cover artist in the April/June edition of Australian Art Collector, Armstrong's most recent visceral works have taken on a quality unlike what has been seen in his previous work. All five sculptures in his upcoming exhibition Conjurers will be included in the prestigious 2012 Gwangju Biennale, opening on 7 September.
Within the anthropomorphic world of Conjurers, Armstrong’s sculptures have been stripped back to their bare elements, revealing five gnarled, tubular figures with bodies carved out of plywood and curious limbs stretched towards the sky. The walls are adorned with watercolour and ink paintings in the same languid style of the sculptures. The two mediums beckon to each other in wordless conversation, allowing the audience to speak for them instead.
While Armstrong's focus on wood-forms in this exhibition may at first seem like a deviation from his normally artificially-aired constructions, he has been using wood as the hidden base in his work for many years. This time, he is letting us see the bones. Compared to previous work, his 2012 exhibition at Tolarno Galleries has an immediate, friendly lightness to it, despite the sculptures themselves swelling with heavy lethargy. Unlike Armstrong's glass-blown, wax moulded works of the past, the opacity of the natural wood-grain lends to a warming immediacy.
Each of the sculptures (Conjurer’s I-V) possesses an eerie yet familiar quality. Questions begin to revolve around the pieces' winding, twisted arms. Are they animal? Are they plant? Or are they something that lies in between? This dichotomy is present in much of Armstrong's work, letting the audience decide their meaning. The longer that a human presence stands within their mangrove, the more the dialogue shifts. Eventually the viewer stops focusing on deciphering the ambiguity of the figures, and begins observing the relationship between the sculptures and paintings themselves: a bulbous head appears to have facial features, or an amorphous root begins to wave. Slowly the questions quell, and the viewer's mind is allowed to wander between thoughts, inhabiting the in-between-world of the unknown.
The five sculptures are accompanied by three large-scale paintings that reflect on the themes expressed by the looming figures. Created simultaneously with their 3-dimensional counterparts, their fluid, calming lines complement the natural wood forms of the sculptures.
There is no singular meaning, no prevailing construct or imposing implication: simply the work, the viewer, and the hazed connection that occurs in their shared space. What lies in that subconscious co-inhabitance is up to individual discretion, and Conjurers is likely to emote different reactions from varying personal connotations. Regardless of what conclusions are drawn, the mere consideration of them shows Armstrong's growing international profile as an incredibly talented multi-medium artist with the ability to bend an audience's conceptions of reality.
Press release courtesy Tolarno Galleries.
104 Exhibition Street, Level 4
Melbourne, 3000
Australia
www.tolarnogalleries.com
+61 3 9654 6000
+61 3 9654 7000 (Fax)
The gallery is temporarily closed until further notice.
Tuesday–Friday: 10am–5pm
Saturday: 1pm–5pm