Sometimes we feel a sensation of freefall – looking down from a high-rise building to the street below, or suffering vertigo from the latest drone footage in the news. This vertiginous perspective is not new. In visual art it can be seen in the floating landscapes of historical paintings from China and Japan; in the bird’s eye view used by Australian Aboriginal artists to represent their traditional knowledge of country; and in the work of artists referencing war time aerial photography. ‘Limitless Horizon: Vertical Perspective’ draws together an array of artistic approaches that represent the landscape from a vertical perspective.
The increasing sophistication of mapping technology can make us believe that seeing more gives us power over the environment — but anyone who has been lost in the desert, sea, or forest has experienced how easily we can be overwhelmed. Many of the artists in this exhibition remind us how the conceptual parameters of mapping can change our perception of place. Depending on our approach a cityscape or landscape can be read either as teeming with information or reduced to abstraction.
‘Limitless Horizon’ features moving image works alongside painting, photography and prints by artists such as: George Barber, Denis Beaubois, Charles and Ray Eames, Kota Ezawa, Taloi Havini, Queenie McKenzie, Robert Morris, Moataz Nasr, Raquel Ormella, Junebum Park, Mike Parr, Edward Ruscha, and George Tjungurrayi.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a screening program at the Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA in March 2018, please check the website closer to the date for further details.
Image: Junebum Park, South Korea b.1976 / 1 Parking 2001 02 / DVD: 5:25 minutes, colour, silent, ed. 14/20 / Purchased 2007 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery.
