Heide III: Central Galleries
Up Close
Carol Jerrems with Larry Clark, Nan Goldin and William Yang
Curator: Natalie King
Exhibition dates: July 31 – October 31
Up Close traces the significant legacy of Australian photographer Carol Jerrems (1949–1980), and situates her work alongside that of other photo-based artists from the 1970s and 1980s: Larry Clark and Nan Goldin from New York, and William Yang from Sydney. Sharing an interest in sub-cultural groups and individuals on the margins of society, each artist reveals a remarkable capacity to provide an empathetic glimpse into semi-private worlds through intimate depictions of people and their surroundings.
Cookie in Tin Pan Ally, New York City, Nan Goldin 1983
Melbourne based curator and arts writer, Jessica O’Brien shares her thoughts on the exhibition…
Heide Museum of Modern Art presents Up Close, featuring the work Australian photographers Carol Jerrems, William Yang and American documentary photographers Nan Goldin and Larry Clark.
Up Close includes work taken during the 1970s and 80s, offering unvarnished insights into the alternative worlds of American and Australian subcultures. Depictions of sex, drug taking, and youth culture are at once timeless and specific. Sharpies, the pre- AIDS gay party scene and extravagant party wear firmly locate the works in a specific historical period. However, the intimacy, abandon and vulnerability evident in the photographs transcend periods and locations.
The highlight of Up Close is the work of Larry Clark and Nan Goldin. Clark, whose controversial films are perhaps better know that his photographic work (Kids, Ken Park) feature perfectly executed compositions that lend grace to his often violent subject matter.
Goldin’s documentation of New Yorks post-punk, new-wave music scene and gay subcultures is both emotionally and visually arresting. Her work takes the form of a 45 minute slide show entitled The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, first shown at Frank Zappa’s birthday party in 1979. This work, in which 800 photographs are displayed, is accompanied by a heady sound track that includes rock, blues, opera, and reggae.
While the curatorial focus in Up Close is on the work of Australian Carol Jerrems, more interesting (to this author at least) are the American photographers used to position the work within an international context. Bolder in subject matter, and in the case of Nan Goldin, lush in colour, the sections of the exhibition featuring these artists are truly arresting.