Preservation @ Monash Gallery of Art

Preservation: Hedy Ritterman
FOCUS GALLERY
20 July –21 August 2011

Hedy Ritterman’s exhibition is a meditation on the complexities of the contemporary photograph and the institutions such as Monash Gallery of Art that exhibit and collect photography. It embraces the objectness of the photograph and the desire to collect these photographs.

“The history of photography is bound up with the history of collecting photography. And yet photography has an uneasy relationship to the tradition of object-based museum collections – not least because of the potential proliferation of copies always promised by the medium. At a moment in which photography is increasingly shifting away from the print to the screen, Hedy Ritterman’s site-specific exhibition at Monash Gallery of Art both celebrates photography’s materiality and unveils the tensions implicit in photograph’s passage into the museum.” said Dr Daniel Palmer, Senior Lecturer, Art Theory Program, Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University.

MGA is unique among Australian cultural organisations. Indeed, it is the only cultural institution in the country – regional, state or national – whose collection is focussed solely on Australian photographs. As such, MGA is a cultural institution of national importance.

Ritterman states, “As an artist I use photography to articulate my sense of the world...I am particularly curious about photographic collections and the way photographs are compiled and shown by an institution like MGA.”

In this exhibition Ritterman presents the visitor with images of innocuous gallery items - usually hidden from view - such as bollards, white gloves and temperature gauges. Ritterman transforms these humble objects into spectacular images, with rich and seductive surfaces. One photograph measures 2 x 4metres!

MGA Gallery Director Shaune Lakin said, “Ritterman presents a beautiful exhibition that draws the viewer in with great visual effect and explores the complex relationship between the photographer, the work and the institution.”

This exhibition asks us to consider our relationship with photography. Preservation creates an open space where something as ubiquitous as the photograph can be reconsidered anew, with room to think about its future possibilities and limitations.

To read the transcript of Hedy's speech click here.

Mark and Phillip from Chapman & Bailey skillfully install  the 2 metre by 4 metre  piece Bollard.

Hedy and Mark Chapman @ the opening of Hedy's beautiful show, 'Preservation'
Monash Gallery of Art