Aaron Perkins: Pronounced á-nem

To sail is to read the wind. However, despite a recent residency atop the Maroochy Sailing Club on Chambers Island, I have no experience on rafts, yachts, catamarans or any other masted what-nots. The points of sail are unintelligible to me and my movements over the water are illiterate.

Despite this inexperience, in Pronounced á-nem-oy Perkins nevertheless attempts to harness the wind to continue his exploration of language through abstraction. In a suite of paintings, works on paper, and video that hitch the literature of Ancient Greece to the telegraphic system of flag semaphore, Perkins orients himself within space and language, likening seeds blown by the wind to units of speech, and playfully exploring the evolution of language — albeit sometimes along failed routes …

In the catalogue essay by Jude Anderson, Perkins’ skill as an “Anemoi Purveyor” – that is, as someone promoting the wind – is said to lay in “his deliberate, deeply considered visual techniques, and his delight in offering the ancient languages of winds and sailing to speak playfully with us”. This we recognise and extend as an invitation to all to join us in Perkins’ play at Jan Manton Gallery.

Please join us for the opening of Pronounced á-nem-oy, Thursday 3 June from 5 – 7pm.

Guest speaker Ferre De Deyne, Business Owner, Art Collector and Philanthropist based on the Sunshine Coast, will open the show at 5:30.

In accordance with COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the Queensland Government, it is necessary that you RSVP to the exhibition’s opening as there are limited spaces available. If you aren’t able to attend please contact the gallery. If you miss out on a session, we encourage you to visit the space during our normal gallery hours.

Image: Aaron Perkins, Phonemes #41, 2021, acrylic on canvas with Tasmanian Oak, 149 x 147cm. Image: by Carl Warner. Courtesy of Jan Manton Gallery and the artist.