Dual <> Jewel Kelly O'Shea

Dual<>Jewel transplaces two 'galleries' and attempts to shift ideas of convention by inverting interior and exterior spaces. The project questions three social interactions within the sphere of art production: the role of the artist as entertainer, the role of the gallery as a public space, and the role of the audience as public.

In the first instance, the project interrogates the unseen processes of artistic creation through a metaphor of performance and rehearsal. Instead of attempting to present the sometimes messy experiments of studio practice in a pristine and flawless manner supposedly expected of the white cube gallery, and of the artist as a fully developed practitioner, Dual <> Jewel embraces the unfinished and the transitory. Working in the field of contemporary jewellery, as O’Shea does, this could be considered even more transgressive.

As well as revealing the machinations of production, O’Shea opens new social sites of contestation in order to examine the prescribed function of public art galleries as truly public spaces. Consisting of three accessible sites: one at the Dunedin public library, one at the Blue Oyster, and the third at an offsite location that will be revealed on opening night, Dual<>Jewel allows for a reinterpretation of the city alongside different parameters.

In direct relation to the role of the public gallery as a public space is the correlative assumption that the gallery’s audience is representative of the general public. Focusing on the inclusion of marginalised groups, O’Shea seeks to ask the public why they engage, or do not engage, with such spaces. Addressing this - and post-relational practice - directly, soup will be served at the Blue Oyster on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at lunchtime throughout the exhibition. Please feel free to come along.

Kelly O'Shea is a Dunedin based contemporary jeweler, installation artist and curator.