13% Painting 2010
A monochrome in high gloss black and gallery white, 13% Painting (Abstract Representation) considers anonymity and assumptions about presence/absence.
A void or negative space, often interpreted as a female element, placed at groin height, refers to the 13% proportion of women artists (cf: 87% men) represented at a leading NZ dealer gallery, and typical of art statistics worldwide. The black field oscillates between being support and constraint to the white slot, while the cut-out borrows volume from the wall behind and outside the work. In composition, the dominant 87% black area is also 13% of the volume of the work when viewed by depth, making both fields equally lean. Placeholders and perceptions interchange, raising questions of what counts as content and material.
Finalist, Anthony Harper COCA Contemporary Art Award 2010
Series: Ply Painting