Sydney artists Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy present Persistence of Vision; The Sleep of Reason Produces MonstersRepurposed Lego is transformed into paranormal mosaics and sculptures of weapons from the January 6th insurrection in Washington DC.Art Space at The Concourse, Chatswood 9 August – 3 September 2023
One of Australia’s most respected contemporary artist duos Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro will present new work in a free public exhibition at Art Space on The Concourse in Chatswood from 9 August until 3 September 2023.
The artists, who represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2009, present Persistence of Vision; The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, an exhibition comprising mosaic renderings of the paranormal created out of well worn, second-hand pieces of Lego – chosen for its nostalgic and playful overtones.
With this new body of work Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro explore spectres of the past and the delusions of the near-present in an exhibition that questions our fascination with fear and the phantastic.
The artists take as a starting point traditional concepts of monsters such as the Loch-ness Monster, ghostly spectres, little green men and Bigfoot, whilst questioning what has replaced these in the current day.
The exhibition includes small sculptures of improvised weapons collected in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection of the Capitol in Washington DC, USA.
“Just as Lego is well known by all, so too are the phantastic creatures that inhabited movies, TV and pulp books. The pixilated nature of Lego lends itself well to describe the photographic, televisual or digital nature of this neo-folklore,” say Healy and Cordeiro.
The combination of the themes explored and the materials used to create the work seems innocuous but both subjects suggest a desire to transpose the make-believe into the real. The works ask: do we have so much mental energy that we just can’t resist conjuring up paranormal stories to titillate us?
“Bigfoot, Nessie, Mani-pogo, Bukit Timah Monkey Man, come back, we need you. If humans must believe in the phantastic, can we at least keep our monsters endearing?” adds Healy and Cordeiro.
Persistence of Vision; The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is part of Chatswood Culture Bites 2023 – Willoughby City Council’s innovative program of music, theatre, comedy and more.
Art Space on The Concourse will also invite local High Schools to engage with the artwork of the internationally renowned artists, who may be studied as examples for the Visual Arts curriculum.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro use their artistic practice as a tool to locate themselves within the cultural systems of contemporary society. The pair believe that the central motif of our age is the tension created between the Primacy of the Individual and the Social Contract that is subscribed to through a complex, global inter-dependancy. The formal and informal systems of our collective society both supports and constricts the individual.
The artistic collaboration reconfigures and juxtaposes elements of the biological, the historic, the cultural and the astronomical to create artworks that help decipher who we are and what we have gained and forfeited in order to realise our present existence.
Their work has been included in numerous exhibitions in Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Taiwan, the UK and the USA.
Career highlights include solo exhibitions at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; The Art Gallery of New South Wales; La bf15, Lyon; The Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC and a survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Healy and Cordeiro’s installation Life Span was part of the Australian representation at the 53rd Venice Biennale. They have also participated in the Auckland Triennale, the Adelaide Biennial, Setouchi Triennale and the Oku-Noto Triennale, Japan. The City of Sydney commissioned their public work Cloud Nation which is located in the Green Square Library Tower.
They are based in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
ARTIST TALK 11am – 12.30pm SATURDAY 19 AUGUST
CHATSWOOD LIBRARY MEETING ROOM (Free)
*Join Australian artist duo Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro for a discussion on their work, artistic processes and creative influences. In conversation with Council’s Curator Cassandra Hard Lawrie, these internationally renowned artists will explore their artistic collaboration and the ideas that sparked the creation of their body of work, Persistence of Vision; The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.
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