Exhibition dates: 11th November – 6th December, 2008
Opening: Tuesday 11th November, 2008
Helen Britton (Australian, b. 1966)
Brooch
2008
Moving through Melbourne’s busy laneways from the Oleh Witer exhibition we arrive at the intimate, stylish Gallery Funaki to view the work of Australian artist Helen Britton who works with the form of contemporary jewellery. The crowd spilled onto the street and the small space was busy with an interesting crowd in attendance.
The exhibition presents brooches, earrings, rings and necklaces built with the artists trademark assemblages. Whilst the necklaces are more prosaic (movie like reels and slinks of melted plastic restrained within metal banding) it is the brooches that capture and hold the viewer’s attention. Sci-fi like grided circles collide with concave discs filled with glistening blue crystals; thrusters and steel from a miniature collapsed lunar landing vehicle vie with clusters of vibrant colours that appear to be imbedded into a lunar landscape: delicate crimped and folded metal landscapes with the appearance of collapsed geometric origami.
These are wonderfully inventive constructions, invigorating for their energy and exuberance. Britton has described her work as “industrial baroque”. Perhaps an equally pertinent description would be spatial, or ‘space baroque’ as the artist investigates the nexus, the cellular biology of matter, reality and the spaces we inhabit.
Dr Marcus Bunyan
Helen Britton (Australian, b. 1966)
Brooch
2008
Gallery Funaki Sackville House Apartment 33 27 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000 Australia
Opening hours: Wednesday – Friday 12 – 5pm Saturday on occasion (check our socials) or by appointment
Art Blart _ art and cultural memory archive 
You must be logged in to post a comment.