Fecund

Fecund: Fertile Worlds
curator Clare Armitage

“Fecund aims to point out how deep the relationship between humans and the natural world is.”

Announced as the inaugural SPARK NT Curator in September 2017, Katherine based curator Clare Armitage presents Fecund: Fertile Worlds. A diverse exhibition of contemporary artists from across the NT and Australia, Fecund is a collective response to life, death and renewal in the natural world.

It celebrates the intrinsically optimistic nature of growth. It evokes the natural landscape, reproductive cycles and sex, and acknowledges the resilience of life, the interconnectedness of living systems, and the will to exist.

Fecund brings together a diverse array of art forms to conjure a visceral experience of the world we inhabit.

https://artbacknt.com.au/show/fecund-fertile-worlds/

About the artists:
Chips Mackinolty (NT), Steve Gough (NT), John Wolseley (VIC), Nikala Bourkem (TAS) , Patricia Casey (NSW), Monica Watson (SA), Molly Jugadai (NT), Winsome Jobling (NT), Pony Express, Eve Nganjmirra (NT) Linda Joy (NT), Karina Coombes (NT), Merran Sierakowski (NT), Djirrirra Wunungmurra (NT), Eva Nganjmirra (NT), Gwenneth Blitner (NT), Christie Torrington (NSW), Talitha Kennedy (NSW), Tarron Ruiz-Avila and Gini Vecerina (NSW), Claire Bridge (VIC) and Steve Axford (NSW)

Fecund, meaning highly fertile or abundant new growth, presents a collection of contemporary works that inspire conversation and contemplation. Bringing together artists from all over Australia at different stages of their careers, the works are connected by the notions of fertility and the capacity to transform.

The exhibition is a visceral experience that includes a range of art forms. Large installation works such as Talitha Kennedy’s anthropomorphic black leather mangroves occupy the floor, while Nikala Bourke’s macroscopic images of plants and Djirrajirra Wunungmurra’s intricate Yukuwa yam paintings balance the irreverent and erotic works of Pony Express. Sounds from Claire Bridge’s video work permeate the space.

Fecund: Fertile Worlds is the first exhibition outcome from the SPARK NT Emerging Curator Program, initiated by Artback NT and supported by regional gallery partners: Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and Northern Centre for Contemporary Art in Darwin; Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Cultural Centre in Katherine; Nyinkka Nyunyu Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek and Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs.

Armitage’s exhibition Fecund: Fertile Worlds will tour throughout the Northern Territory in 2018.

NCCA - Northern Centre for Contemporary Art
DARWIN, NT
Start: 23 March 2018
End: 14 April 2018

Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Cultural Centre
KATHERINE, NT
Start: 11 June 2018
End: 22 July 2018

Araluen Arts Centre
ALICE SPRINGS, NT
Start: 16 November 2018
End: 3 March 2019