GUO JIAN: THE CAST AND THE CREW

12 February – 20 March 2010

The Cast and Crew is based on Guo Jian‘s experience of living between the cultures of Australia and China. Guo’s pantings confront the difficulty that migrants face when trying to tell ‘us’ apart from ‘them’ in the contemporary world. The feeling is likened to being on a movie-set in between ‘takes’. Once the cameras stop rolling, actors playing heroes and villains lose their distinctions, all in on the joke together.

Guo’s satirical paintings draw upon his training as a poster artist in the People’s Liberation Army. His images meld kitsch and the erotic in a display that is both dazzling and frightening, drawing out the latent violence lurking beneath the surface of popular culture. By bringing the absurd side of life into focus, Guo exposes the politics that underpin contemporary society.

Shifting global politics have complicated our traditional way of perceiving the world. Through Guo’s paintings, the experience of the migrant is shown to be the experience of all individuals in the contemporary world. The Cast and Crew confronts recent history, showing us how it, too, plays out between takes rather than on the screen.  By mapping its contradictions and scrambled referents, The Cast and Crew creates a space for questioning and reflection.

Guo Jian migrated to Australia in 1992. He currently lives in Beijing.