For this exhibition David Noonan has arranged three new linen collages in a space articulated by a woven mat. The images each contain a singular figure that appear in dialogue with one another as if relating a narrative. The compositions are striking and dramatic, recalling the mysterious theatrical situations for which Noonan’s work is known.

All the materials Noonan employ maintain an equal importance of meaning: the floor rug, textiles, screen-printed images, and wooden frames each play a role in setting an atmosphere. Noonan does not privilege one aspect of the artwork over another; both subject and form are intertwined and interlaced. A fundamental aspect of Noonan’s work is the idea that materials and technique may collapse into one plane, where definitions and situations become blurred.

Noonan references a range of reproduction processes in his work from ancient tapestry to newsprint and digital media. Using a combination of traditional and contemporary methods, Noonan is able to superimpose the figurative with the abstract, bringing them together into one image. Over each of the three portraits in this exhibition Noonan has carefully layered images of Japanese fabrics. Here the representation of textile interacts with textile itself, and in performative way, the work becomes illusionary—image and form, time and place are rendered ambiguous and malleable.

Noonan's works treat the picture plane both as a physically complex surface and as a representational space. By collaging layer upon layer of fabric, the textile texture becomes an integral component of the composition, while the carefully arranged tears bring visual depth and three-dimensionality to the surface of the works. This technique of layering is inspired by the Japanese practise of “Boro”, popular during the late nineteenth-century.

—Cassandra Bird

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David Noonan has exhibited nationally and internationally for almost two decades. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘David Noonan’, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2011); The Glasgow International festival of Visual Art, The Mitchell Library Glasgow, UK (2010); ‘David Noonan’, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2009); ‘David Noonan’, the Chisenhale Gallery, London (2008) and ‘David Noonan’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007). Recent group exhibitions include ‘Transmitter / Receiver: The Persistence of Collage from the Arts Council Collection’, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales; Tullie House, Carlisle, Cumbria (2013); ‘Theatre of the World’, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, MONA - Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania (2012-13); ‘The Age of Aquarius’, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, USA (2011); ‘10 ways to look at the past’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2011); ‘Tableaux’, MAGASIN - Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble (2011); ‘Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence’, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt and CAPC de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (2011);  ‘The British Art Show 7’ (2010); ‘The Biennale of Sydney’ (2010); ‘Altermodern’, the Tate Triennial (2009); and the ‘Gwangju Biennale’ (2008). Noonan’s work is currently on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the exhibition ‘We used to talk about love, Balnaves contemporary: photomedia’. Noonan’s work is held in major public and private collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the British Arts Council, UK, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, the Sender Collection, New York and the Rubell Collection, Florida. David Noonan has been represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery since 1999.

Exhibition opening: Thursday 31 January 6 - 8pm

Exhibition dates: 31 January – 2 March 2013