KATE JUST
VENUS WAS HER NAME
Venus Was Her Name brings
to Melbourne works Kate Just produced during a recent three month
residency and exhibition in Krems, Austria (2011-2012). Just’s interest
in Krems was ignited by its close proximity to the town of Willendorf,
home of the Palaeolithic female figurine The Venus of Willendorf (25,000 BCE). Continuing her interest in female representation, Just created a series of works exploring the legacy of The Venus in the area and its untapped subjective presence. Just drew on contemporary archaeological theories suggesting The Venus might
be a self-portrait, or image of a textile practitioner. She produced a
life-like knitted portrait of her own skin, and knitted a large twine
sculpture of the word ‘VENUS’ with knitters across Austria, using
archaic knitting symbols in place of letters. These works are shown
alongside a a series of collages of women formed from images of archaic objects and a table of faux-archaeological relics relating to the artist and The Venus.
Kate Just was born in Connecticut in 1974 and moved to Melbourne in
1996. Just has a Master of Arts from RMIT, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from
VCA and a Bachelor of Science (Film-making) from Boston University. She
has been a Lecturer in Art at the Victorian College of the Arts since
2005. Just has exhibited extensively including at Auckland Art Fair, AC
Institute New York, the Kunsthalle in Krems, Austria, Craft Victoria,
Gertrude Contemporary, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
Art Fair, Contemporary Art Space of Tasmania, Chalk Horse Gallery, First
Draft, MOP, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Canberra Contemporary
Art Space, and Daine Singer. Recently, a survey exhibition of Just’s
major knitted works was held at Ararat Regional Gallery entitled Kate Just: The Knitted Work 2004 – 2011. Her work is currently being exhibited in Louise Bourgeois and Australian Artists at Heide Museum of Modern Art. In May 2013, Just’s studio led PhD at Monash University will culminate in the exhibition The Texture of Her Skin.
Just has held international residencies at KREMS AIR in Austria (2011)
and the Australia Council Residency in Barcelona (2012). As a recipient
of the British Council Realise Your Dream Award, Just will travel to
London in 2013 to create a public knitting work entitled Women HOPE.
Her work is held in collections including Artbank, Ergas Collection,
City of Port Phillip, Ararat Regional Art Gallery and Proclaim
Management Collection.
Image: Kate Just, Venus Was Her Name, 2012, installation view
The Factory, Kunsthalle Krems, photograph: Christian Redtenbacher
Daine Singer
Basement 325 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
www.dainesinger.com / info@dainesinger.com / 0410 264 036
|
|
|
|
|
|
