Art Now

By Daniel Majchrzak Subject Captain, Visual Arts

Recently, Radford senior Visual Arts and Photography students were once again visited by an extraordinary person in the field of Arts- collegian Dean Cross. He discussed contemporary art practice and what art means today through a presentation that held the attention of the students for a full hour complete with the opportunity for questions.

Dean Cross is a First Nations transdisciplinary visual artist with an impressive background in dance, and who is currently exhibiting in a number of different art galleries. He has in fact been in 30 exhibitions in the last two years. Through his artwork he explores themes of nationality, what it means to be an Australian in this century and humanitarianism through the lenses of video, photography, sculpture and painting among an ever-expanding list of other media.

A great example of Cross’ work is his exhibition, “RUNS DEEP” which was shown and explained as an exemplar of his work to students. Within the exhibition, which was shown at Alaska Projects in Sydney in early 2018, the students were introduced to the complex themes that are commonplace in Cross’ work. An excellent example of this thematic complexity within the exhibition is the work, ’Barricade’ which comprises a short video in which the artist gestures and talks to the camera. The video acts as a comment on extremism in Australia, and how video sharing and YouTube facilitate the spread of extremist sentiment.

Ultimately, the experience to meet a collegian Visual Artist, with knowledge about the channels to getting into a creative career as well as an excellent understanding of the contemporary art world was sure to prove invaluable to students, studying the Contemporary Art and Contemporary Photography Unit.

We asked the students to reflect on Dean’s visit. Here are some quotes from the year 11 and 12 Creative Arts students….

“The intellectual rigour of his work, based on theory, was a good reminder of the importance of an artist’s intent and the power of art to create or provoke change”.

“I personally found his presentation inspiring. He addressed the barriers that he faced in creating his career in the Arts. Seeing a former Radford student follow an unconventional path, broadened my idea on what is possible for me. I really liked how his exhibitions worked as a collective, his artworks were part of a college”.

“I liked how all of his works had a purpose that meant something to him, and that none of his works were predictable or mainstream. His use of different mediums was quite unique, and allowed him to address common social issues in new ways”.

“At first glance Dean’s work didn’t really interest me, however, once I understood the ideology behind it (exploring one idea through multiple mediums) I was really fascinated and hope to work on similar projects for myself in the future”.

“His approach of taking a thought or idea that you explore naturally in your life and applying an artistic interpretation was a revelation of how I personally think and apply my own art”.