Barbara Vivash
S 2765600
Review on Dai Li recent Works at the Heiser Gallery.
Bruce Heiser, the Director of the Heiser Gallery, established the gallery in November, 2004 in Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley. By definition, a gallery is a long, narrow room and the Heiser gallery is true to the definition, providing an unpretentious venue for a broad spectrum of art. The gallery exhibition schedule presents solo exhibitions of new works from the artists he represents. In addition, the stock room includes some impressive twentieth century pieces from artists such as Ian Fairweather, Ian Crooke and Sam Fullbrook as well as select nineteenth century Queensland art.
As a member of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association, the Heiser Gallery is committed to the ‘Code of Practice’ for Australian commercial galleries and the artists they represent. According to the ‘Code of Practice’, even though the principal service provided by the gallery is the sale of an artist’s work, full gallery representation includes the following list of services:
· Staging regular in-house exhibitions, producing catalogues and invitations.
· Archive and curriculum vitae maintenance.
· Maintaining visual material for promotional purposes.
· Media archive maintenance/records of promotional activities/post-show summaries of media outcomes and promotional material.
· Pursuing ongoing sales and exhibition opportunities outside the gallery in the private sector (e.g. in museums, public galleries, festivals, survey shows and biennales).
· Pursuing commissioning opportunities and advocating for the artist’s interests.
· Cultivating collectors and corporate clients.
· Monitoring the artist’s interests and legal rights.
· Collaborating with the artist on competition, grant and commission submissions.
· Pursuing critical writing and publishing opportunities for the artist.
· Recording of all works left on consignment, location of all works sold and on loan.
The document also states that this list is intended as a guide only to the core services a gallery providing full representation may offer. However, not all galleries provide all of the services.
The ‘Code of Practice’ indicates that the artist and the gallery should negotiate the amount of commission to be paid to the gallery, based on the services provided. The suggested amount is forty per cent of the GST exclusive retail price of the art work. During the interview, Bruce Heiser said that the Gallery operated as a business and as such charged a commission on the sales. He indicated that the cost of an exhibition was usually shared by the artist and the gallery.
One of the gallery’s artists, Julie Fragar was interviewed about gallery exclusivity. She clarified that the system was not as rigid as represented by the ‘Code of practice’ with the agreement between the gallery and artist not usually a written contract. With the exception of some gallery proprietors, representation tends not to be exclusive, with artists having additional representation nationally and internationally.
Even though the Heiser gallery represents well known artists such as Alun Leach-Jones and Noel McKenna and Julie Fragar, it was always intended to evolve by including younger and emerging artists as well. As it is with Dai Li. Dai Li was born in China twenty-five years ago and attended the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute for four years. She relocated to Australia in 2009 after her graduation from the Institute and now lives and works in Queensland.
In recent works, Dai Li has incorporated pieces from her The Games We Play exhibition at the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery in July this year with her more recent works. The theme of works from The Games We Play evolved from her memories of childhood games. The artist’s figurines sculpted from stoneware express a softness of texture and gestural fluidity, unexpected from such a rigid medium. Each figure expresses an instant of reaction where the stimuli may be the fear of discovery, the thrill of winning, the joy of play. For example, in Cheat 2012 (Fig. 1) the little girl’s expression is confident and satisfied, surprising as she is blindfolded. However closer inspection reveals a fraction of her left eye is unobscured and she is certainly not in the dark. Similarly, I’m not here 2012 (Fig. 2) is a desperate attempt to be invisible as the little girl obscures her head beneath a flower pot.
Some of the 2012 figures allude to more adult reactions. On the rocks I 2012 (Fig. 5) and On the rocks II 2012 (Fig. 3) depict figures having endured a conflict and found stranded on rocky outcrops. On the rocks II 2012 (Fig. 3) is particularly eloquent. A cowed, apprehensive girl peers up through the wet strands of her hair. The viewer is conscious of her sense of dread – did she fall whilst being pursued or was she washed up onto the rocks? On the rocks I 2012 (Fig. 5) is the complete antitheses, with the girl draped limply across the rocks, barely conscious. This figure exudes vulnerability, the result of fear or violence, having given up any further attempt to escape.
Escape 2012 (Fig. 4) is another poignant piece where the artist has created an oval tub filled with simulated soap bubbly water. The naked figure is in the foetal position, perhaps simulating the ultimate escape – back to the womb. The viewer is originally arrested by the aesthetics of the work and then experiences empathy as a response to the total vulnerability and reality of the figure.
Of the thirty-seven pieces in the exhibition, my favourite is I don’t need it, but I want it 2012 (Fig.5). It is most likely a sympathetic response to that shopping dilemma, should I buy this totally desirable, but superfluous garment? The artist has completely captured the longing and the guilt as the little lady tenderly holds the garment against her body and considers the effect in a (imaginary) mirror.
At first glance the exhibition consists of a collection of quaint, fun little people, but on closer inspection the viewer realises that, to quote Jess Hall from the Bundaberg Art Gallery:
Dai Li… seeks to set up metaphorical connections between the games we play
and deeper emotional experiences in life. …Moments of contemplation
or unguarded moments when no one is watching – or we are hiding – are
moments when people can reveal their true nature.
Each piece is a unique, believable character with the power to create an empathetic dialogue with the viewer. Dai Li has achieved this through gesture, uncannily accurate facial expressions and individualising each character through costume and physical attributes.
At first the exhibition appears sparse and uninspiring until the viewer realises that the gallery has become a landscape, a home to Dai li’s little people. Each character has been carefully considered and placed with other similarly emoting characters or floating on the gallery wall. The sparseness emphasises the individuality of each piece and ensures that the viewer travels to each piece, giving it due consideration avoiding the initial impression of a collection of fun ornaments.
Images
Images
References
Dai Li 2012, Dai Li on Etsy. Retrieved 17 October, 2012 from http://www.etsy.com/people/dailiwonderland
Hall, J. 2012, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery Exhibition Openings. Retrieved 17 October, 2012 from Http://bundabergartsnetwork.wordpress.com/tag/dai-li/
Heiser Gallery 2012, Dai Li. Retrieved 17 October, 2012 from Http://www.heisergallery.com.au/artists/daili/index.html
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