Showtime
Showtime
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Brook Andrew

1970 - Showtime 1999
  • Screenprint
121 cm x 31 cm
Description

Brook Andrew's works Showtime and Still produced in 1999 are universal in their resonance as images of power, recognisable to all of us around the world, leading our lives in contemporary societies that are in many ways culturally and economically, even militarily, deeply intertwined with American politics and culture.

 

Deliberately seductive in their slickness, they nonetheless pack a punch. An image of a fighter jet, seemingly lifted straight from television news footage, contrasts with a photograph of the Star Spangled Banner superimposed with a Warhol-style pop portrait of Monica Lewinsky.

 

Andrew anticipates the age of social media memes, creating a visual juxtaposition of American military might with a Whitehouse scandal that brought down a global leader...themes in politics that seem eerily relevant today.

 

Marcia Langton wrote about these works 'Andrew gives us Monica Lewinski wrapped in a pink feather boa, foregrounding an oversized American flag and the word ‘Showtime’, in sultry pink as part of a symbolic but potent strategy of reclaiming colonialist language. His presentation of the cultural power structures that shape society within global geo-politics and American cultural overreach is seriously playful.'

 

Andrew has a major international career and most recently was Artistic Director of the Sydney Biennale 2020 – the first artist ever appointed to the role. Also in The Wesfarmers Collection by the artist is the large scale work Australia I and Owl from the series Replicant.

More by this artist

Brook Andrew 1970 - Australia I
  • mixed media on Belgian linen
300 cm x 200 cm
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The Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

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