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City Gallery
30 May - 22 Aug 2004 |
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Curatorial
Statement | Artist's
Résumé
In Honeymoon on the Pigroot, two figures parade on
a catwalk. One is a ready-made, a mannequin from the 'Icon'
Range, dressed in oilskin tuxedo. The mannequin stands with
its back to 'Dahlia', a big pink pony enlarged on a 13:1 scale
from a child's toy. Initially baffling, the work spins out
in a multitude of directions as Dunedin-based Scott Eady pays
tribute to his province and continues his exploration of masculine
culture in New Zealand.
Art historian Richard Lummis has described Eady's practice
as an 'inquiry into the boundaries, tenants and contradictions
of masculinist culture [that blends] incisive commentary with
wit and fun.' Previous case-studies in this inquiry include
a six-metre long chainsaw hacked out of macrocarpa, a fully-restored
Ferrari-red Massey Ferguson tractor and a collection of smutty
street signs emblazoned with such legends as 'Root 66' and
'McTitties'. In Honeymoon, Eady appropriates the persona
of the Southern Man, made famous by local brewing company
Speights. He toys with the myth of this archetypal man's man
by dressing him in a Nicholas Blanchet suit, exquisitely tailored
and topped off with silver tractor cufflinks. He-man is transformed
into himbo, posing pouty-lipped and disdainful at the end
of the runway.
Honeymoon's regionalism extends beyond this masculine
stereotype. The collaboration with Blanchet is another regional
characteristic, marking the ongoing collaborations between
Dunedin's artists and fashion designers and Eady's interest
in Dunedin's fashion renaissance. In the mannequin, two Dunedin
identities collide; high country meets high fashion.
The work's title references Eady's honeymoon trip along the
'Pigroot' - State Highway 85 - one of the routes through Central
Otago. Eady pays tribute to the discovery on this journey
of a tractor-shed-cum-museum at Glennshee Park, where the
late Otago farmer Eden Hore's collection of gowns from 1970s
Benson and Hedges Fashion Awards are shown alongside Franklin
Mint dolls and stuffed animals. In addition to collecting
designer fashion, in 1980 Hore introduced the first miniature
horses to New Zealand. This surreal road-trip experience might
explain Dahlia's origins. Unlikely as it may seem at first
glance, Honeymoon on the Pigroot offers us one person's
view of the place he lives in.
Courtney Johnston
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