PICA MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINTER EXHIBITIONS

Agatha Gothe-Snape was invited by PICA and the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art to undertake a period of research and present a site-specific response to works held within this remarkable collection. This exhibition is the outcome of that research and brings together: new works by Gothe-Snape, including an animated poem created from the titles of collection artworks that refer to native and introduced flowers; a selection of artworks from the collection; and a number of chairs belonging to artists in the collection.

“These borrowed chairs circumvent expectations of two of the collection’s most recognised thematic areas, self portraiture, and the domestic environment. The former implies an ‘essence’ expressed through visibility, and the latter – even when the subject of critique – weds women’s labour to the home. As a functional support, the form of the chair conjures the body through its absence. They become a cypher for the artist, at work.”
– Gemma Weston, Curator, Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art

Commissioned in celebration of PICA’s 30th anniversary year, Trying to Find Comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair responds to the 1995 exhibition In the Company of Women, held at PICA as part of the National Women’s Art Exhibition project. This exhibition marked the first time the Cruthers family collection, now the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at The University of WA was exhibited publicly.

Termite Economies (Phase One) considers how processes of the natural environment are harnessed for the continued acceleration of human industry.

Artist Nicholas Mangan looks at historical research undertaken by the CSIRO into the activity of termites in the hope that the behaviour of these industrious insects would assist with the identification of gold deposits and lead to increased efficiency and expansion of gold production.

Mangan takes this historical scientific endeavour as a starting point to explore the potential forms that might be realised by industrious insect colonies. Using a 3D printer, plaster, and soil, Mangan has created models that hybridise mining infrastructure with termite architecture to form speculative mining systems scaled for insect-sized industry.

Mangan’s work challenges us to question the histories embedded in objects, structures, and documents of human culture. How often do we consider the effects of human activity on the natural environment? Mangan calls for us to interrogate these narratives and asks us to imagine possible futures.

“My practice is driven by the desire to make sense of the world by unpacking histories and possible narratives that surround specific contested sites and objects. This investigation explores the unstable relationship between culture and nature, evidencing the flows of matter, energy, and ideologies that are produced through the tension of these two realms.”– Nicholas Mangan

Mangan takes this historical scientific endeavour as a starting point to explore the potential forms that might be realised by industrious insect colonies. Using a 3D printer, plaster and soil, Mangan has created models that hybridise mining infrastructure with termite architecture to form speculative mining systems scaled for insect-sized industry.

Mangan’s work challenges us to question the histories embedded in objects, structures, and documents of human culture. How often do we consider the effects of human activity on the natural environment? Mangan calls for us to interrogate these narratives and asks us to imagine possible futures.

“My practice is driven by the desire to make sense of the world by unpacking histories and possible narratives that surround specific contested sites and objects. This investigation explores the unstable relationship between culture and nature, evidencing the flows of matter, energy and ideologies that are produced through the tension of these two realms.”– Nicholas Mangan

For all media enquiries please contact Tracy Routledge, Publicist via tracy@trpr.com.au | 0412 223 221
High resolution images available here

Termite Economies: An Illustrated Lecture with Nicholas Mangan
Wednesday 24 July, 6pm
Free | Register online
An illustrated lecture by Nicholas Mangan that reveals the lines of research and anecdotal histories that have informed the development of his revealing project Termite Economies.

Winter Exhibitions Opening Night
Friday 26 July, 6.30pm | Free
Join us as we welcome two new exhibitions into the PICA Galleries.

Artist Floor Talk with Agatha Gothe-Snape
Saturday 27 July, 3pm
Free | Register online
Agatha Gothe-Snape with curators Charlotte Hickson and Gemma Weston guide us through the research and development, stories and hidden gems, comfort and discomfort of what it means to share personal experience with professional practice.

Women in Art: Then & Now
Saturday 3 August, 3.30pm
Free | Register online
Leading female art makers and industry voices discuss the history of women’s art and the arrival into the present. Join us for this critical panel exploring where we have come from, where we are now, and where we need to go.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Agatha Gothe-Snape
b. 1980, lives Sydney
Based in improvisational performance, the meeting point between artistic process and social context is a central theme in Agatha Gothe-Snape’s work. It takes many forms: performances (including dance), PowerPoint slide shows, workshops, texts (including correspondence, short poetic texts and headlines both found and improvised), visual scores and collaboratively produced art objects. Her work has included more traditional media such as sculpture in bronze and steel and ink on paper drawings however these objects always have a direct relation to performance. Agatha Gothe-Snape is represented by The Commercial, Sydney. Read more.

Nicholas Mangan
b. 1979, lives Melbourne
Alert to both history and science, Nicholas Mangan is a multi-disciplinary artist known for interrogating narratives embedded in a diverse range of objects. With a keen interest in the processes of forming meaning from objects, culture and natural phenomena, Mangan creates unnerving drawings, montages, sculptures and installations. His work addresses a wide range of themes, including the ongoing impacts of colonialism, humanity’s fraught relationship with the natural environment, contemporary consumptive cultures and the complex dynamics of the global political economy. Nicholas Mangan is represented by Sutton Gallery. Read more.