A Constructed World

Nature Dance

Nature Dance is a selection of works that reflects different versions of nature. From divine light to trees having sex, A Constructed World's project makes space for nature as a constructed space, something clearly embedded in human knowledge and also something outside-of-us.

Exhibition Dates: 2 May – 1 June 2013

Reflecting the artists' multi-model practice, this exhibition brings together paintings, video works, installations and photographs produced over the last decade. The nomenclature of nature draws diverse and plural aspects and events into its category and is reflected in the selection of works presented. A floor installation of objects swirling around a hole in the ozone layer, Universal love/unconditional regard 1996–2013, is also represented in a painted version with the same title, while a painting from 2012, Monkeys on a boat, depicts a boat load of monkeys, in fact A Constructed World's colleagues, out at sea playing guitar and cooking up a pot of mussels. It's a state of nature.

On a more sombre note two paintings Sex and Death from 2006, painted in an uncharacteristic expressionist style, searches for some kind of meaning. The painting Ball World (V) shows a girl balancing on a ball, a moment initially played out in a live performance, the painting becomes second nature to the act, or first impulse. There is a balancing act here between nature and its representations and even though we address nature as all powerful, it tends to exist as a network of things-we-already-know.

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A Constructed World is the collaboration between Jacqueline Riva and Geoff Lowe formed in 1993. Major retrospectives of their work have been presented at the Ian Potter Museum of Art in Melbourne (2012), the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne (2007) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney (1997). In 2014 a survey exhibition will be presented at the Museum Villa Croce in Genova. Performances and further solo exhibitions have been held at Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers in France (2013), the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne in Reims, France (2012), the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Stockholm (2011); ‘Sculpture International’ in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2011); Villa Arson in Nice , France (2010); CNEAI, in Chatou, France (2008), CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux, France (2008) and Artist Space, New York (2000). A Constructed World’s publications include Artfan magazine (1993-2002), Speech Web Magazine (2005-2009), and errors deceits mistakes (2006-present). Their work is held in numerous public collections including: Bibliothèque de Genève, Switzerland; Fonds municipal d’art contemporain de la Ville de Paris (FMAC, Paris); La bibliothèque du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; La bibliothèque Kandinsky, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Centre national édition art image; Chatou FR (Cneai, Chatou); Care Of, Milan; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne; Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne; City of Port Phillip, St Kilda, Melbourne and private collections in Italy, France and Australia. Geoff Lowe has been exhibiting with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery since 1983.

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Sex and death, 2006
alkryd resin and oil on canvas
2 parts: 190 x 209 cm and 190 x 206 cm