An Unusual Pairing

Dan Arps and Fiona Clark

Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland

31 July – 31 August 2019

Review by John Hurrell for EyeContact, 20 August, 2019

An Unusual Pairing
I was quite surprised when I noticed these two (quite different) artists being put together like this, and a bit suspicious of bland gallery marketing, but on seeing the show: the combination works well. I didn’t expect it.

I had forgotten about Fiona Clark’s ‘musclemen’ photographs taken in Sydney and Auckland in 1980. They have an emotional and a cerebral content, often showing the anxiety on the faces of the body-building contestants, but also presenting a sort of caricature of masculinity (whatever that is), looking at the performative: a posing process where a heightened exposure of worked-on muscles is intensified (to be admired or assessed) and then—after a brief duration—released. Her fourteen coloured indoor images are lined up on the long end wall opposite the windows.

Read more:http://eyecontactsite.com/2019/08/an-unusual-pairing#ixzz66zKbXPPI
Under Creative Commons License:Attribution Non-Commercial

Fiona Clark, Chris Dickenson, Mr America 1970, Mr Universe 1974 and Grand Prix 1980 winner, Auckland, 1980, Vintage C-Type handprint on Agfacolor Paper, printed 1981, 250 x 365 mm (paper size).

Installation of Dan Arps and Fiona Clark at Michael Lett.