Re-constructed Vision
Contemporary work with photography 25th July-23rd August, 1981
Exhibition and Catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Curated by Gael Newton
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Leonie Reisberg Daytime Magic/Nightime Mystery 1981 |
In 1981 Gael Newton, then curator of photography at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, curated the exhibition Reconstructed Vision: Contemporary Work with Photography. the exhibition included a catalogue. This was a survey of Australian artists who were producing manipulated work in contemporary photography, including photomontage, handcolouring and other alternative techniques. Included were recent art school graduates such as Fiona Hall, to Micky Allan and Bill Henson, to the experimental work of older artists such as Mark Strizic.
Two exhibitions at the AGNSW in 1981 sharpened the discourse of postmodernism in Australian art and photography: Bernice Murphy's first Australian Perspecta in May, and Newton's exhibition a few months later. The exhibition's influence was lasting. Newton's catalogue essay was widely cited through the 1980s and influenced exhibitions as far away as Brisbane and Hobart, including Extended Landscapes at the Tasmanian School of Art Gallery in 1983. In 1983 a version travelled to Paris as Australie: re-constructed vision, organised by the AGNSW and the Australia Council for the Festival d'Automne.
Reconstructed Vision marked the moment in Australian art photography when the fine-print ethos (which continued) was joined by alternative uses of the medium of photography. This innovative branch of photography was to become a significant part of Australia’s contemporary visual arts.
1. introduction -- The 2022 introduction by Gael Newton to the 1981 exhibition
2. essay -- The 2022 online version of the 1981 Re-constructed Vision essay
3. catalogue -- The 2022 online version of the 1981 Re-constructed Vision catalogue
Related reviews and selected exhibitions to provide a historical context
4. Review by Max Dupain -- 1981 Sydney Morning Herald Review
5. Review by Arthur McIntyre -- August 1981, The Age (Melbourne)
6. Review by Martyn Jolly -- Australian Centre for Photography 1981 (Sydney)
7. Paris 1983 exhibition: Australie: Re-constructed Vision
8. Australian National Gallery exhibition 1985, Photoworks
9. Review by Gus Van der Heyde of 1978 Australian Photography: a contemporary view - Lawrence Le Guay (ed.)
10. Photo Start: September 14 - December 5, 1982, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York
more of Gael Newton's Essays and Articles
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