The first of what will be multiple visits, so I felt free to wander without any aim of seeing it all.
Xu Zhen's monumental "Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana, the Dying Gaul, Farnese Hercules" (etc - the full title is extended) (2016-17) was a fine introduction, continuing the NGV's habit of using that large space effectively, and I liked the way the level 2 pieces were installed amidst the permanent collection. I liked Jean Epousteguy's "Death of the Father" (1967-68) and its distorted marble bishop-mitred heads and central crouched (supplicating?) figure, though it turns out it wasn't technically part of the Triennial, also Brodie Neill's "Gyro, table" (2016) (ocean plastic-adorned, and blue of course being the colour of distance, here in a different sense while still referencing water and its expanse).
Ron Mueck's "Mass" (2016-17) struck me as tender and beautiful in the vulnerability of the skulls, their individuality and collectivity and of course all in death; I always find his stuff moving. Guo Pei's fantastic - in multiple senses - dresses from her spring/summer 2017 'Legends' collection were stunning too. And Pae White's untitled 2017 colour room installation (they look like thread but are actually acrylic cord, and the use of painting and mirrors on surfaces adds to the effect) offered both immediate and deeper pleasures, eluding any sense that it had been completely grasped no matter where within it one stood and viewed it from.
(w/ Hayley)
Xu Zhen's monumental "Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana, the Dying Gaul, Farnese Hercules" (etc - the full title is extended) (2016-17) was a fine introduction, continuing the NGV's habit of using that large space effectively, and I liked the way the level 2 pieces were installed amidst the permanent collection. I liked Jean Epousteguy's "Death of the Father" (1967-68) and its distorted marble bishop-mitred heads and central crouched (supplicating?) figure, though it turns out it wasn't technically part of the Triennial, also Brodie Neill's "Gyro, table" (2016) (ocean plastic-adorned, and blue of course being the colour of distance, here in a different sense while still referencing water and its expanse).
Ron Mueck's "Mass" (2016-17) struck me as tender and beautiful in the vulnerability of the skulls, their individuality and collectivity and of course all in death; I always find his stuff moving. Guo Pei's fantastic - in multiple senses - dresses from her spring/summer 2017 'Legends' collection were stunning too. And Pae White's untitled 2017 colour room installation (they look like thread but are actually acrylic cord, and the use of painting and mirrors on surfaces adds to the effect) offered both immediate and deeper pleasures, eluding any sense that it had been completely grasped no matter where within it one stood and viewed it from.
(w/ Hayley)
