Pinewood Bend 2013 Judy Darragh
The Blue Oyster re-opened its new premises on Dowling St with an exhibition of new paintings and floor works by Auckland-based artist Judy Darragh. Given Darragh’s history of exhibiting and being involved in the New Zealand project space environment, it is both extremely fitting and an honour to re-launch the Blue Oyster with a body of her new work.
This body of work is a regeneration of two exhibitions SI FI (2012) and Stainless (2011). The latter was inspired by a visit to the Los Angeles Car Museum where a De Lorean car is on display. The car was a business failure but found success in the film Back to the Future as a time travel machine. The car travels from the car park of The Twin Pines shopping centre but knocks down a tree and is renamed Lone Pine. The elements of slapstick, science fiction and humour are combined in this journey where fears are faced and return transformed …the myth of “going into the woods”.
Pinewood Bend 2013 alludes to this journey … what is around the bend? The floor forms of bent aluminum rods have attachments inner soles (souls), swollen bandaged joints; they move and rise away from the window.
The wall works are PVC banners found in cinema foyers – the original surface of the banner is pixilated, the applied ink washes and grids of tape act as glitches like a manual low-fi process, breaking down the screen surface and undermining notions of technology. The usual science fiction art tropes, starscapes, radiating beams and brightly hued gradients help create a space between science and reality.
Judy Darragh lives and works in Auckland and played a significant role in the development of Artspace, Auckland, the independent artist run space Teststrip, Auckland and artist-run project Cuckoo. Darragh completed a Diploma in Visual Communication and Design at the Wellington Polytechnic has exhibited widely – her works are held in major collections throughout New Zealand. Darragh is represented by Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch and Two Rooms, Auckland.
