Elvis Richardson
foreground
Mish Meijers

Trophy wife
Grieving widows

2nd - 21st August 2011

Trophy wife curated by Sarah Jones with Mish Meijers, Tom Polo, Elvis Richardson
&
Grieving widows curated by DBK with John Brooks, Helen Pallikaros, Jacquie Read

Curator Sarah Jones brings some misplaced ambition to Death Be Kind with a group of artists Mish Meijers, Tom Polo and Elvis Richardson. Sarah Jones writes;

Symbolic of that which we seek to possess but can never really own, the trophy wife’s potence exists only in a public realm. She embodies all that one wants to own and control. She is desire. To have her sit beside you, displayed, is victorious - but only if someone is watching. Without the desire of others, the coveted object must be shelved, destined to collect dust. A ‘voodoo-esque’ reminder of an end; she becomes a memorial of death.

DBK have curated the exhibition in the office space as a response to trophy wife through an exploration of materials associated with the body with artists John Brooks, Helen Pallikaros, Jacquie Read. Jade Bitar writes;

The trophy wife represents the fantasy, something unreal and unattainable; they parade and seduce. The grieving widow represents reality, halted in an incident and regardless of involvement, the label is given and they must succumb to this role. There is a deranged beauty in both the widow and the trophy wife as they are the suffering that fills a gap of what was present in the past but no longer exists. As the trophy wife’s role is of vacancy, the widow wants only to be vacant, but instead is bound within memories and failures, contradictions of life, death and loss. If the trophy wife is the replacement, then the grieving widow is the irreplaceable.

Tom Polo

Mish Meijers

Elvis Richardson (foreground)
Mish Meijers (shelf on right wall)
Tom Polo (wall painting)

Mish Meijers (elft)
Tom Polo (right)

Elvis Richardson

Helen Pallikaros

Helen Pallikaros

John Brooks

Opening Hours

Friday 6-8pm
Saturday + Sunday 2-6pm
or by appointment
ER: 0401346520
CL: 0448 381 651

Upstairs @
THE ALDERMAN
134 Lygon Street
Brunswick VIC 3056