John Marshall
Interweave
28 September - 16 October 2022
G2
Opening Night
Friday 30 September | 6pm – 8pm
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Interweave is a series of small sculptures constructed entirely of cardboard beverage packaging – the type used for the ubiquitous six-pack. Each sculpture is comprised of numerous, near-identical, segments fashioned and assembled from this material by the artist en masse. Formal pieces, they are colourful and playful, yet they also prompt curiosity as to their origins.
These artworks balance between the minimalism and repetition of the multitudinous pieces of brown cardboard, versus the glitz, glam and vibrancy of the printed designs and colours of the companies’ branding that plays so strongly throughout these sculptures. The high-coloured printed designs bring a contemporary aesthetic and speak of lifestyle consumption and aspiration. On the other hand, the artist has made these works by studiously cutting, folding, arranging and gluing together in a repetitive, yet handcrafted, fashion, giving each individual work of art a hand-crafted appearance. A tension is evident between the alienation inherent in mass-produced assembly line products from which these artworks are made, along with their explicit life-style promises, versus the hand-made feel and woven appearance, and all of the subsequent nostalgic allusions that come with this.
In terms of pure abstraction, the rippling colours of the printer's ink open up interesting possibilities of colour composition akin to abstract painting. In form, the rhythmic organisation of the cardboard segments in each sculpture utilises the material’s plasticity, always mindful to pay respect to abstract sculptural principles, and to follow a constructivist vigour of formal layout where shape, texture and colour all play their roles.
The artist is ever conscious of balancing these formalist principles with an equally strong concern for a more humanist engagement with the sculptures. The source material is mass-produced but it has been hand-built by the artist with ample evidence of the human touch – the weaving textures, the curious antennae, and the coloured dots – touches that hint at a sense of positivity in a difficult world.
Artist Bio
John Marshall is a sculptor who takes the products of contemporary industrial and domestic consumption and recasts them into objects of intriguing beauty. His chosen materials - cardboard packaging, newspapers, wire mesh and egg cartons - are ubiquitous to our daily and domestic lives. Marshall transforms these into art objects invested with an aesthetic that allows for the strongest sculptural and formalist possibilities, together with a humanist feel.
Melbourne-based, John Marshall has for over thirty years produced a body of work that ranges from small-scale sculpture to large site-specific installations, both indoor and outdoor. He has held a number of solo exhibitions and been reviewed in publications such as Eyeline, World Sculpture News and the Herald-Sun.
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
