Croggon, King, OK Collective, Burford and Smith

The current group show at Seventh Gallery in Fitzroy reflects a diverse range of practices.

Recurring motifs of athleticism and the natural world are present in Gallery One where Zoe Croggon and Martin King have collaborated on a work entitled Here is Where We Meet, in which collage, soundscape, video and sculpture interact.

In a video work by King, footage of a contemporary dancer performing a piece called Dance of the Dead is combined with a soundscape of what sounds like a Kung Fu swordfight. The audio element is expertly synched to match each and every movement of the male dancer. By using two disparate elements and combining them with such precision a wonderfully unexpected experience is created.

A similar splicing occurs in Croggon’s striking large black and white collages. Each collage consists of two images cut in half and placed side by side. One half of the collage has an image of an athlete in motion, such as a boxer or a diver, the other half may be a landscape or a more indistinguishable form. The energy and dynamism of the athletes is subtly continued in the second image. In one work, an image of a boxer delivering a knockout strike is juxtaposed with an abstract, grainy image in a way which looks as though the boxer’s face could be morphing into abstraction.

In Gallery Two, the OK Collective (Oliver Cloke and Kathy Heyward) have a piece titled Uniquely Yours – 155a Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 3065 which turns the gallery space into a bedsit, with dining table, kitchenette and sitting area. On opening night the gallery was ‘auctioned’ for $5000. The work highlights the process of gentrification occurring in certain inner city suburbs like Fitzroy and Collingwood. As a result, artists and galleries are being nudged out by property developers. This witty commentary was made all the more pointed due to the recent sale of the building a few doors down from Seventh, which has housed the iconic Gertrude Contemporary since 1985.

In the project space, an installation Hung by Andrew Burford humorously satirises the importance of size in depictions of masculinity. A blown up photograph of a man’s crotch has a giant, flesh-coloured kaleidoscope hanging in front of it, inviting viewers to have a voyeuristic peek.

Lastly, the night screen is showing a work by performance artist Tania Smith. Untitled #1-3 draws on the myth of Sisyphus, who was stuck in a perpetual loop of endlessly rolling a boulder up a hill. Smith is stuck in a continuous performance of what she calls ‘pleasure and anxiety’ as she releases a fire extinguisher, smashes plates and tears apart pillows. Smith’s work invites us to contemplate notions of both physical and emotional entrapment and gain relief from it.

Rating: Four stars

Here is Where We Meet: Zoe Croggon and Martin King; Dance of the Dead video sequence choreographed by Garry Stewart, courtesy Australian Dance Theatre
Uniquely Yours – 155a Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 3065: The OK Collective (Oliver Cloke and Kathy Heyward)
Untitled #1-3: Tania Smith
Hung: Andrew Burford

Seventh Gallery, Fitzroy
August 17 – September 3
www.seventhgallery.org