hand coloured silver gelatin photographs – Art Blart

Exhibition: ‘The Original Gus Wagner: The Maritime Roots of Modern Tattoo’ at the South Street Seaport Museum, New York

Exhibition dates: 29th January – 4th June 2017

Curators: Alan Govenar, with Martina Caruso, Collections Manager and Registrar, and Michelle Kennedy, Collections Assistant at the Seaport Museum

Tattooing Tools
c. 1900-1940 (metal, wood, bone, plastic, textile, paper)
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

THIS IS THE FIRST POSTING SINCE MY OPERATION. THIS AND THE NEXT FEW POSTINGS WERE CREATED WELL BEFORE THE OPERATION. I AM NOT USING MY INJURED HAND WHICH IS IN A CAST UNTIL THE 15th JUNE 2017. THANK YOU!

I love the (hand coloured) photographs of Australia and New Zealand among the pages of the Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook, and the photographs of early Australian tattooing.

The ink work over the background photograph of Victor Lundblad (?) tattooed by Gus Wagner 1902 (left) and Gus Age 30 (right) (1902, below) adds an altered dimension to the photographic image, both physical and visual … from the hand coloured roses on the studio background, to the all seeing eyes staring at the viewer on the back of Victor Lundblad’s legs and on to the eyelashes of both men, which are like that of a Victorian doll. The male body as tattoo schematic, as a representational topography.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Many thanks to the South Street Seaport Museum for allowing me to publish the artwork in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

“There is something about tattooing which I cannot explain… and why so many people have it done I don’t know. It may be vain, but I find it fascinating and very useful in traveling. Every symbol and every design made up of symbols has a meaning. These on my body, for instance, are mementos featuring incidents of my life and travels. Then, too, in every country where tattooing is practiced a tattooed person who is able to tattoo needs to further introduction to the natives, be they civilised or uncivilised, or even barbaric and cannibalistic.”

Gus Wagner

Tattooing Tools
c. 1900-1940 (metal, wood, bone, plastic, textile, paper)
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Taken on board R.M.S. Ormuz in Sydney Harbor Sydney new South Wales Australia, March 1899
1899
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

(colour correction and light digital clean)

RMS Ormuz, built in the Glasgow shipyards and she was capable of sailing from Sydney, as it was advertised locally, to London in just 30 days. The truth is that she was indeed capable, and she even did it once, however, filled with passengers and with suitable ports of call for the enjoyment of the ships guests, the voyage would usually take six weeks…

In 1883 The Orient Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., of London signed a contract with the Government of New South Wales, Australia to carry emigrants from the United Kingdom. The Company would be paid £15 per head for up to four hundred persons and £14 and 10 Shillings for numbers between four and six hundred persons per voyage…

Having been carefully planned and using one of the company’s finest interior designers, such as J. J. Stevenson F.R.I.B.A., who had already worked on a number of earlier ships and would now place his stamp on the Ormuz! Thus an order was placed for her to be built at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd., Glasgow, where her hull was laid down in Yard 317.

The new almost completed liner was officially launched on September 29, 1886 and after her fit-out and trials were completed, on December 29, 1886 she was registered at Glasgow in the ownership of the Orient Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London, named the “Ormuz.” She was then officially handed over to the Orient Line at Tilbury.

The 6,031 GRT (Gross Registered Ton) RMS Ormuz was 464.5ft – 141.55m long and she accommodated 334 passengers in comfortable First and Second Class accommodations. In addition there were the more humble migrant accommodations, which were generally large all male and female dormitories with some 6 to 8 berth cabins and a few 4 berth cabins for ladies with babies, or very young children sailing. In all there would be 300 migrants onboard, thus a total of 634 passengers, that is if the ship was fully booked!

When it came to cargo she carried general cargoes in her five holds, but she did have 44,501 cubic feet of refrigerated cargo space to transport lamb, butter, and fruit from Australia to Great Britain, and as we have already ready it arrived in a fresh and excellent condition!

The RMS Ormuz departed on her maiden voyage from London (Tilbury) to Australia on February 3, 1887 and it was a most successful voyage. She received a wonderful welcome in Sydney as what was the grand new four mast twin funnelled Orient Line steamship, which for her day would have looked quite a sight as she entered Sydney in record time!

Having arrived again in Melbourne on November 20, 1887, the RMS Ormuz had improved on her earlier time, thus the very next day the “Melbourne Daily Telegraph” described the Ormuz as “The Fastest Ship in the World” on the basis that it had “placed the metropolis of the world within twenty-seven days six hours of its antipodes.”

Text from the ss Maritime website

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Hobart, Tasmania, taken 1899 Years
1899
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
As seen by Gus
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Sydney N.S.W. Australia
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
New Castle N.S.W. Australia
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Gus shell hunting in the Islands (?)
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

(colour correction and light digital clean)

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
tattooed by Gus Wagner 1899
1899
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
tattooed by Gus Wagner 1901
1901
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

The Original Gus Wagner: The Maritime Roots of Modern Tattoo explores Augustus “Gus” Wagner’s (American, 1872-1941) early life as a merchant seaman and tattoo artist who traveled the world from 1898-1902, and his return to the United States as a professional tattooist and tattooed man.

Gus Wagner was born in 1872 in Marietta, Ohio, a trading and boat building town on the Ohio River. At age twelve he saw his first heavily tattooed man, “Captain Costentenus the Greek Albanian,” in a traveling show. In his 20’s, he set out as an itinerant salesman and labourer. In 1897 he boarded the cargo steamer Bellona at Newport News, Virginia, thus embarking on a four-year career as a merchant seaman. By traveling around the world, Gus Wagner got to know many seaports: Vera Cruz, London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu, New York, San Francisco, and others. It was during this time that he discovered the art of tattooing.

By 1901 Gus reportedly had 264 tattoos of his own, (and over 800 by 1908) allowing him to promote himself as “the most artistically marked up man in America.” After briefly moving home to Ohio, Gus embarked on a forty-year career as a traveling tattooist, tattooed man, and circus performer. He largely eschewed the new electric tattooing machines that transformed the art form after 1890, and remained faithful to his hand-held instruments. With other wandering artists, he carried tattooing inland from coastal ports, making it part of the culture of small-town America in the 20th century.

The exhibition will show original and reproduced artefacts from the Seaport Museum’s Alan Govenar and Kaleta Doolin Tattoo Collection such as tattooing tools, a selection of tattoo flashes (drawings and sketches, on recycled paper based materials, displaying variations of tattoo designs) and a selection of pages from the artist’s scrapbook – a 400 page book composed of press clippings, postcards, business cards, sketches, and photographs, that relate to his introduction to tattooing as a sailor.

The exhibition will familiarise viewers with hand tattoo techniques, and make the case for the importance of researching, documenting, and preserving tattoo collections in museums and research institutes. Most of the artefacts are not on view due to their fragile condition and conservation needs. The reproductions and video projection in the exhibition are a testimony of the richness of Gus Wagner’s image vocabulary, his life and artistic influences, and a relatively unknown area of American history during the period from the 1890s to the 1930s.

The exhibition is curated by Alan Govenar, with Martina Caruso, Collections Manager and Registrar, and Michelle Kennedy, Collections Assistant at the Seaport Museum. The design and art direction is curated by Rob Wilson and Christine Picone of Bowne Printers, the Museum’s historic print shop.

Press release from the South Street Seaport Museum

Unknown photographer
Maud Stevens Wagner, tattoo artist
Nd

Maud Wagner (wife of Gus Wagner). Gus taught her to tattoo (in trade for a date, they say) and she was also an aerialist and contortionist in a circus.

Unknown photographer
Gus and Maude
Nd

Unknown photographer
Gus Wagner tattooing
Nd

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Jeneoffly (?). Australian By bennell Australia. Tattooed by John W. Bennell
c. 1901
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Tattoo design from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Tattoo design from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Tattoo designs from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Pages from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook
c. 1897-1941; these photographs 1902
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Victor Lundblad (?) tattooed by Gus Wagner 1902 (left) and Gus Age 30 (right)
1902
Page from Souvenirs of the Travels and Experiences of the Original Gus Wagner, Globe Trotter & Tattoo Artist scrapbook (detail)
c. 1897-1941
Leather, paper, photographic print, ink, thread
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Self-Portrait, Tattoo Flash
c. 1910-1930
Photographic print, ink, cardboard
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Self-Portrait, Tattoo Flash (detail)
c. 1910-1930
Photographic print, ink, cardboard
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Self-Portrait, Tattoo Flash
c. 1910-1930
Photographic print, ink, cardboard
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

Augustus “Gus” Wagner (American, 1872-1941)
Self-Portrait, Tattoo Flash (detail)
c. 1910-1930
Photographic print, ink, cardboard
Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum

South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038
Phone: 212-748-8600

Opening hours:
Saturday – Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm

South Street Seaport Museum website

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Exhibition: ‘The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s: Works from the SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Vienna’ at Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Exhibition dates: 13th March – 31st May 2015

VALIE EXPORT ( Austrian, b. 1940)
Tapp und Tastkino
1968
Video, S/W, Ton
© VALIE EXPORT / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2015 / Courtesy of Galerie Charim, Wien / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Early Cindy Sherman, very good; Francesca Woodman, wow; but Ana Mendieta, you are a star!

Marcus

Many thankx to the Hamburger Kunsthalle for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

Featuring 34 international women artists, this wide-ranging exhibition highlights the early days of the feminist art movement. With over 150 major works drawn from the SAMMLUNG VERBUND in Vienna, it documents how female artists in the 1970s began collectively reshaping the “image of woman” – something that had never happened before in the history of art. During this period, increasing numbers of women who had been born during or just after the Second World War had the opportunity to study at an art school or academy, enabling them to emancipate themselves from the traditional role of artist’s muse or model. Dr Gabriele Schor, director of the SAMMLUNG VERBUND, coined the term “feminist avant-garde” to highlight the pioneering role played by these artists.

The female artists have turned to new media such as photography, film or video, due to the fact that these are not laden with art-historical baggage; others employ performance or action-based art as their chosen means of expression. Along with artists such as VALIE EXPORT, Cindy Sherman and Martha Rosler whose work is familiar to a wide audience, the exhibition also provides a rare opportunity to discover some equally accomplished but less well-known members of the “feminist avant-garde”.

Birgit Jürgenssen (Austrian, 1949-2003)
Nest
1979
S/W-Photographie
© Estate of Birgit Jürgenssen / Courtesy of Galerie Hubert Winter, Wien / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2014/2015 / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Ulrike Rosenbach (Germany, b. 1943)
Art is a criminal action No. 4
1969
S/W-Photographie auf Barytpapier
© Ulrike Rosenbach / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2015 / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Francesca Woodman (American, 1958-1981)
Untitled Rome, Italy
1977-1978/2006
S/W-Photographie auf Barytpapier
© Courtesy George and Betty Woodman, New York / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

They went on to create works that challenged social norms and the mechanisms of the art business, developing radical new artistic practices and breaking with a male-dominated reality. Against the background of the civil rights movement and the women’s movement, feminist issues emerged as a matter of public debate: the personal was now political. Within a very short period of time, women began raising awareness and gaining public recognition by organising collective actions, demonstrations and independent exhibitions. The artists of the “feminist avant-garde” have examined how traditional images determine the perception of women and how they construct their own personal and social identity. Their work addresses a wide range of themes, such as the relegation of women to the one-dimensional role of housewife and mother, the use of one’s own body in art, female sexuality, notions of beauty and violence against women.

The female artists undermine the stereotype roles in a subversive way. Martha Rosler, for example, uses exaggeration and parody to criticise women’s traditionally domestic role, and Birgit Jürgenssen tied a cooker around her neck like an apron in her work Hausfrauen-Küchenschürze. By playing with the camera or employing masquerade and costumes as an effective means of self-representation, women artists have challenged conventional notions of identity or femininity and exposed these as social constructs. Cindy Sherman, Suzy Lake, Hannah Wilke and Martha Wilson cast themselves in a variety of roles for their photographic investigations into everyday and historical clichés. In a similar way, Lynn Hershman Leeson created a fictional alter ego as “Roberta Breitmore” and enacted this character for a number of years. While accepted cultural ideals of beauty and perfection play an important role for all of the artists mentioned above, these themes are specifically and impressively addressed in the work of Rita Myers and Ewa Partum.

Numerous women artists have turned to new media such as photography, film or video, due to the fact that these are not laden with art-historical baggage; others employ performance or action-based art as their chosen means of expression. VALIE EXPORT, for example, invited passers-by on Munich’s Stachus square to visit her Tapp-und Tastkino – meaning that they could put their hands inside a box she was wearing over her naked chest. Female artists have often exploited their own bodies as art material, whereby some – such as Ana Mendieta or Gina Pane – have pushed themselves to the very limits of physical endurance. Using humour, irony, subtlety and provocation, the artists of the “feminist avantgarde” have deconstructed the traditional female iconography.

Along with artists such as VALIE EXPORT, Cindy Sherman and Martha Rosler whose work is familiar to a wide audience, the exhibition also provides a rare opportunity to discover some equally accomplished but less well-known members of the “feminist avant-garde”.

The SAMMLUNG VERBUND was founded in 2004 in Vienna by VERBUND, Austria’s leading producer of electricity from hydropower. The collection focuses on international contemporary art from 1970 to the present day, with a unique emphasis on the Feminist Avant-garde of the 1970s.

Featured artists: Helena Almeida (1934-2018, Portugal), Eleanor Antin (*1935, USA), Lynda Benglis (*1941, USA), Renate Bertlmann (*1943, Österreich), Teresa Burga (1935-2021, Peru), Lili Dujourie (*1941, Belgien), Mary Beth Edelson (1933-2021, USA), Renate Eisenegger (*1949, Deutschland), VALIE EXPORT (*1940, Österreich), Esther Ferrer (*1937, Spanien), Lynn Hershman-Leeson (*1941, USA), Alexis Hunter (1948-2014, Neuseeland, England), Sanja Iveković (*1949, Kroatien), Birgit Jürgenssen (1949-2003, Österreich), Ketty La Rocca (1938-1976, Italien), Leslie Labowitz (*1946, USA), Suzanne Lacy (*1945, USA), Suzy Lake (*1947, USA), Karin Mack (*1940, Österreich), Ana Mendieta (1948-1985, Kuba/USA), Rita Myers (*1947, USA), ORLAN (*1947, Frankreich), Gina Pane (1939-1990, Frankreich), Ewa Partum (*1945, Polen), Ulrike Rosenbach (*1943, Deutschland), Martha Rosler (*1943, USA), Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019, USA), Cindy Sherman (*1954, USA), Penny Slinger (*1947, England), Annegret Soltau (*1946, Deutschland), Hannah Wilke (1940-1993, USA), Martha Wilson (*1947, USA), Francesca Woodman (1958-1981, USA), Nil Yalter (*1938, Ägypten/Frankreich).”

Press release from the Hamburger Kunsthalle website

Renate Bertlmann (Austria, b. 1943)
Zärtliche Pantomime [Tender Pantomime]
1976
S/W-Photographie (aus einer 6-teiligen Serie)
© Renate Bertlmann / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Renate Eisenegger (German, b. 1949)
Hochhaus (Nr.1)
1974
S/W-Photografie auf Holz kaschiert (aus einer 4-teiligen Serie)
© Renate Eisenegger / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Alexis Hunter (New Zealand, 1948-2014)
Approach to Fear Voyeurism
1973
Silver bromide photography, painted with colored ink (from a 12-part series)
© Alexis Hunter / Courtesy of Richard Saltoun, London / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2015 / SAMMLUNG VERBUND , Wien

Birgit Jürgenssen (Austrian, 1949-2003)
Ohne Titel (Selbst mit Fellchen) [Untitled (Self with pelts)]
1974/1977

Lynn Hershman-Leeson (American, b. 1941)
Roberta Construction Chart #1
1975
C-Print
© Lynn Hershman Leeson / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Ana Mendieta (Cuban-American, 1948-1985)
Untitled (Glass on Body Imprints)
1972/1997
C-Print (from a 6-part series)
© The Estate Ana Mendieta / Courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Ulrike Rosenbach (German, b. 1943)
Weiblicher Energieaustausch, Venus [Female Energy Exchange, Venus]
1975-1976
S/W-Photografie auf PE Papier (aus einer 3-teiligen Serie)
© Ulrike Rosenbach / Bildrecht, Wien, 2015 / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Cindy Sherman (American, b. 1954)
Untitled #443 (Bus Riders II)
1976/2005
© Cindy Sherman, New York
Courtesy: Metro Pictures, New York/ SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Cindy Sherman (American, b. 1954)
Untitled (Bus Riders I)
1976/2005 (from a 15-part series)
© Cindy Sherman, New York
Courtesy: Metro Pictures, New York/ SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Cindy Sherman (American, b. 1954)
Untitled (Lucy)
1975/2001
Silbergelantineabzug
© Cindy Sherman, New York
Courtesy: Metro Pictures, New York / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Penny Slinger (English, b. 1947)
Wedding Invitation – 2 (Art is Just a Piece of Cake)
1973
S/W-Photografie
© Penny Slinger / Courtesy of the Artist and Broadway 1602, New York / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien

Annegret Soltau (German, b. 1946)
Selbst [Myself]
1975
B/W photograph on baryta paper (from a 14-part series)
© Annegret Soltau / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2015 / SAMMLUNG VERBUND, Wien
Photo: Heide Kratz

Hamburger Kunsthalle
Glockengießerwall 20095 Hamburg
Phone: +49 (0)40-428 131 204

Opening hours:
Tuesdays to Sundays 10am – 6pm
Thursdays 10am – 9pm
Closed Mondays

Hamburger Kunsthalle website

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Review: ‘Blight’ photographs by Josephine Kuperholz at Gallery 101, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 3rd June – 27th June 2009

Josephine Kuperholz (Australian)
Themognatha pascoci
2008
Woven hand coloured silver gelatin photographic image

Josephine Kuperholz presents a beautifully engineered set of photographs in her exhibition Blight at Gallery 101, Melbourne. Featuring hand coloured silver gelatin photographs of endangered Australian insects sourced from the Entomology collection of the Victoria Museum, Kuperholz literally weaves multiple narratives into the photographs. The execution (an apt word for the circumstances of extinction facing these insects) of these images is fastidious, the weaving superlative, almost clinical.

The layering of the photographs disrupts their surface tension. There is a disjunction between the dead specimen and the singular photograph of it, a disruption of the smooth surface of the photograph by the hand colouring and a further fragmentation of the original photograph by cutting and weaving. Through these processes the photographs become intertextual in their construction, assemblages, creating new tissues of past citations: animal, colour, silver, artist, text, photograph, environment. At their best the work subverts the concept of the text as self-sufficient and hermetically sealed, blurring the outlines of the fixed image, “dispersing its image of totality into an unbounded, illimitable tissue of connections and associations, paraphrases and fragments, texts and con-texts.”1

Kuperholz’s mutations, ‘differance’ in Derrida’s terminology, produce spaces that are both fluid and fixed at one and the same time; neither her nor there. Though the original specimens and photographs are already narrativised, already textualised, Kuperholz disrupts this marking, the continual reiteration of norms, by weaving a lack of fixity into her objects; in her reconceptualisations of space and matter Kuperholz redefines the significations of the body of the animal in the fold of inscription, through a process of materialisation. Kuperholz attempts to ground these re-inscriptions through the naming of these disrupted surfaces, equating the images back to the scientific labels for the original specimen, Trapezites eliena for example (see below), and through the box frames surrounding the work that are much like museum cases. Unfortunately I found the constant reference to the habitat of the insect, it’s Latin name inscribed in pencil under the images and the use of plain brown box frames somewhat irritating. These tropes are not necessary for the work is strong enough to stand on it’s own without having to tell the viewer what to think.

The singular beetles (as seen above) are beautiful images and the multiple images where the weaving intermingles, the self decentred and multiple, fluttering and vibrating like the strobing of a time lapse photograph caught in three-dimensional space, are fantastic. Other photographs are less successful: the reflected beetles are a little passe, while the grid photographs of insects lack presence and intensity (see bottom installation photograph below). Where the concept works it is pushed hard, the fragmentation and interweaving causes an anxiety of identity and a meditation on the problematic nature of existence, revealing the changing sizes, shapes and rhythms of space and structure.

Perhaps a loosening of the rigid structure surrounding the works (the text, the frame, the incantations) would have let the photographs ascend into the ether, further releasing the work from the constraints of author, text and earth. It will be interesting to see future developments of this work. Perhaps the incorporation of gentle, subtle physical elements into the photographs (through the sowing of patterns, through the sowing of objects directly onto the photograph?), will elevate these already beautiful photographs to an-other plane of existence.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Josephine Kuperholz (Australian)
Trapezites eliena
2008
Common name – Eliena Skipper
Woven hand coloured silver gelatin photographic image

Josephine Kuperholz (Australian)
Dryococelus australis
2008
Common name – Lord Howe Island Phasmid
Woven hand coloured silver gelatin photographic image