david noonan scenes...(2005) and foxy production, new york (2004). his works have been presented in...

ACCA

DAVID NOONANScenesThe Helen Macpherson Smith Commission 2009

David Noonan

SCENES

The Helen Macpherson Smith Commission 2009

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art15 August – 27 September 2009

Commissioning Curator: Juliana EngbergAssociate Curator: Charlotte Day

THE HELEN MACPHERSON SMITH COMMISSION (HMSC)

David Noonan is the fifth recipient of the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission. The partnership between ACCA and the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust offers Victorian artists the opportunity to create an ambitious new work of art to be exhibited in the main commission hall at ACCA. This work is then gifted to a regional Victorian gallery.

DAVID NOONAN

David Noonan’s expansive practice of collage works, short films, paintings, sculptural objects and installations, involves a complex layering of historical and contemporary images, drawn from a range of photographic and filmic sources.

Central to his practice has been the creation of sets and scenes, in which figures appear against a backdrop, often in a state of heightened awareness and potential transformation. Influences upon David Noonan’s practice include nostalgia, memory and childhood. Images are often found in antiquarian bookshops or the Internet, which depict scenes from experimental theatre, with the emphasis on collectivity and collaboration of the 1970’s. One key influence is the Jean-Luc Godard film Alphaville (1965) of the film noir, dystopian genre.

His recent works have depicted ritualistic practices, including role-playing through group workshops and communal pageants. Printed on coarse woven jute, he cuts, slices and montages found images together, constructing compositions that hover between two and three dimensionality, positive and negative space, stasis and action, the past and present. There is a haunting quality in these collaged images that can be compared to the flickering effect of celluloid or the fade of images and memories over time. Shadowing, doubling and looping further confound connection to a specific time and place. Instead, Noonan’s images evoke intense emotional encounters and our individual and collective desire to open up to a realm of possibilities beyond the here and now.

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Noonan’s impressive exhibition history includes major solo exhibitions at the Chisenhale Gallery, London (2008), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007), David Kordansky, Los Angeles (2006), Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne (2005) and Foxy Production, New York (2004). His works have been presented in curated exhibitions including Altermodern, the Tate Triennial, London (2009), Lost & Found: An Archeology of the Present, TarraWarra Biennial, Victoria (2008), the Busan Biennial, Korea (2008), Imaginary Thing, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2008), The Present Order Is the Disorder of the Future, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands (2007), Rings of Saturn, Tate Modern, London (2006), Supernatural Artificial, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Tokyo (2004), Listening to New Voices, PS1 Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2002), 1999 Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1999) and Signs of Life, Melbourne International Biennial (1999).

For complete bibliography and exhibition history on the artist refer to:

www.roslynoxley9.com.auwww.foxyproduction.comwww.davidkordanskygallery.comwww.generalhotel.org

Cover:David NoonanScenes, (details) 200819 sculptures each on birch ply and steel bases5 silk screen on linen and jute collages dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and HOTEL, London

SCENES - The Helen Macpherson Smith Commission

Scenes at ACCA, marks a homecoming for the Australian born, now London-based artist David Noonan. Born in 1969 in Ballarat, Victoria. Noonan completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) at Ballarat University (1987-89) and Post Graduate Studies (Painting) at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (1991-92). Noonan has lived and worked in London’s East End since 2005.

Noonan has transformed ACCA’s Commission Hall, covering the black concrete floors with coir (a carpet made from coconuts). Appearing sparse and minimal; in the space is an illusion upon closer inspection of the collages and silhouettes.

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David NoonanScenes, (details) 2008

19 sculptures each on birch ply and steel bases5 silk screen on linen and jute collages

dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and HOTEL, London

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acca education

David NoonanScenes, (details) 200819 sculptures each on birch ply and steel bases5 silk screen on linen and jute collages dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and HOTEL, London

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Processes, materials and techniques

Noonan often uses the process of collage as a tool for image-making. As materials are a major concern, it allows him to combine different elements from disparate sources in a direct way. Figures, objects, interiors etc are all brought together into one image to create fictions and entirely new narratives.

Noonan enjoys combining found images and can see the freedom of potential when combining or layering them.

“I’m really quite restless and not slavish to one particular technique. I try to work with the things I’m looking at – using the approach that best suits the idea or the reference.” David Noonan, Art World, Issue 2, April/May 2008

“I’m interested in the way materials (the linen, jute, timber, coir) relate to each other, and in creating an atmosphere.” David Noonan, The Age, Friday 14 August, 2009.

Silhouettes

Noonan created the silhouettes prior to the wall based works. The silhouettes are two-sided birch-ply and stand upon black steel bases. The wooden structure of the silhouettes are designed by Noonan and cut by a carpenter and then routed by him. The edges are not completely sanded smooth.

The linen and jute is silkscreen printed off-site at a commercial printers. The screens are large i.e. 2m x 1m and require 4 to 5 people to lift them. The fabric lengths are then cut and attached with glue to the plywood backing by Noonan. The edges of the jute and linen are left distressed and fraying.

The silhouettes are spread purposefully throughout ACCA’s Commission Hall and suggest elements of mime and gesture. The silhouettes also appear melancholy and larger than life. In the space we are encouraged to consider our awareness of space and proximity to each other.

Collages

The collages contain both figurative and abstract elements that are sourced from books and magazines and on sub-jects such as Viennese tapestry biennales in the 1970s or German theatre productions in the 1980s. The linear effects within the monochromatic layered collages also reflect the flicker or chimera of a movie screen.

The figures in groups appear to be engaged in activities such as role-play or rehearsal, while the figures in isolation appear to be looking introspectively, possibly in a mirror, conscious of their presence and self. The monochromatic palette compliments the silhouettes.

The fabric collages are created using primed linen and jute and are extremely heavy, due to the many layers of fabric. The jute is cooler and blue greyish in colour, while the linen is warmer, grey coloured. The monochromatic images are silkscreen printed in black. The edges of the linen and jute are frayed and layered, the angle of cutting is jagged. The figures in mime contrast with the ambiguous nature of the collaged compositions.

Noonan prints on the reverse side of the linen and the jute with two tones - one warmer and the other cooler (more blue) to achieve a more raw textural quality. The primed side of the fabric is attached to the timbrer support using Swiss archival glue - sections of collage can be re-positioned before the glue sets.

The rough and linear weave of the linen and jute is also reflected in the coir carpet and edges of the birch-ply silhouettes.

Carpet

Noonan has used coir carpet (made from coconut fibre) to create the feeling of a stage or a field. The natural colour and texture contrast and compliment the wall-based collages. The lines embedded in the weave of the carpet are also reflected in the screenprinted jute and linen collages.

“There is a marked silence to the work, aided by the carpet, which physically sucks up any noise.” David Noonan, The Age, Friday 14 August 2009

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Victorian Essential Learning Standards

The Arts, Visual Art, Level 6

David Noonan uses found images in the creation of his collage works.

Task:Explore and discuss the way in which both historical and contemporary artists use the technique of collage in combination with found images in their work.

History Level 5, Visual Art Level 5, Textiles Level 5

David Noonan works with found images to create works of art from a method of printing called silkscreen printing. Research the history of both silkscreen and woodblock printing, which date back to and prior to the year 220 in China.

Task:Explore different methods and materials used in printmaking, such as intaglio, relief, lithography, etching and compare this to contemporary methods of printing, such as Inkjet and laser printing.

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VICTORIAN ESSENTIAL LEARNING STANDARDS - LEARNING ACTIVITIES

VCE - LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Kurt SchwittersThe Proposal, 1942mixed media

Kurt Schwitters collage, The Proposal, 1942, appropriates sections of a magazine advertisement and a nineteenth century lithographic illustration.

The Proposal appears to be a social commentary; contrasting the brashness of contemporary society with the restraint of society in the nineteenth-century. In the work, Schwitters, who was in exile during wartime London when he created the collage, appears to be expressing a bleak view of society in the 1940’s. This is in part represented by the high colour contrast and placement of the magazine cuttings, superimposed over the top of the monochromatic, lithographic print. David Noonan also appropriates his imagery from found objects, which may be photographs, using a similar technique of cutting and re-assembling a number of pieces together. Similar to Schwitters, Noonan’s images also create new meanings and allow for new interpretations through his choice of imagery, mediums and materials.

However, Noonan’s ideas appear more open-ended than Schwitters, allowing the viewer to interpret and find meaning in their own way.

Task 1: Select three wall-based collage works by Noonan. Describe the colour palette and the materials and the way in which the images make you feel. Describe the ideas that you think are being expressed in each of the works.

Compare Kurt Schwitters collage, The Proposal, 1942 with one of David Noonan’s wall-based works. Compare the composition and the way in which each artist uses texture, line and colour in each of the works.

Analyse both of the works using a Cultural Interpretive Framework. What are the works expressing about the culture and time in which they were made?

Raoul HausmannABCD (Self-portrait), 1923-24photomontage

Similar to David Noonan, Berlin, DADA artist, Raoul Hausmann, works with appropriating media images to create collages. Compare the above self-portrait created by Hausmann to the collages in Noonan’s exhibition, Scenes.

Describe the way in which both artists work with line and texture and the feelings that these two portraits express?

Hausmann and other artists exploring DADA, were interested in the absurd, the irrational and the dark side of the human psyche. Discuss the idea of the absurd in art in relation to both of these artists’ works and if you think David Noonan is exploring ideas which relate to this period in art history?

Task 2:Space and composition are important in both the placement of the figures and in relation to the ‘in-between’ spaces in the Gallery.

Consider the notion of mime and gesture and Noonan’s placement of his 3D figures or ‘silhouettes’ against the silkscreen collages. Further explore and describe the poses of the figures or silhouettes and the way in which they create a sense of movement and connection to people in the space.

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VCE ART

Unit 1, Outcome 1:

Present visual solutions to set tasks through an exploration of various media, techniques and processes, using experimentation and artistic research

Look at David Noonan’s collage ‘Untitled, 2008’, from the exhibition, MARKUS, 2008. Noonan has used jute, paper and photography in the creation of this work. His method is to assemble, cut and reassemble as he creates his collage.

In a visual diary, experiment with the idea of mixed-media collage using a similar method. Use a range of materials including photographs, fabric and paper. Create a variety of collages.

Unit 3, Outcome 2:

Interpret different aspects of an artwork’s meanings and messages and compare artworks through the application of interpretive frameworks

Analyse David Noonan’s collages in which he uses photographs from his childhood, using a Psychoanalytical Interpretive Framework. Consider the way he uses personal, nostalgic experiences from his childhood in the 1970’s as inspiration for his artworks. Discuss. Unit 4, Area of Study 2, Outcome 2:

Read the commentaries below and express your thoughts about the comments in relation to David Noonan’s work.

Commentaries

“Every image is a fragment. This is how we see things; how we remember what we don’t fully understand. Creation is always cumulative. Pictures and films develop in an intuitive way, often in response to something that has already been made.”Jennifer Higgie, David Noonan: Some facts in No Particular Order: David

Noonan Films and Paintings 2001-2005, 2005, Page 74.

“Noonan’s complex layering of distinct historical and contemporary cultural motifs move across time and space, encompassing the histories of modernism, science fiction, parapsychology, horror and the gothic, among other cultural reference points from art, film literature, music, fashion and pop culture.” Max Delany, Director, Monash University Museum of Art, 2005

“Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965) has been in my head since I first saw it many years ago. At one point in the film, which is in black and white, it jumps into negative. Apparently Godard had run out of film and found some reversal stock, which he made use of – another reminder that allowing accidents to happen can often produce a more interesting result than the one you predicted. This film had a real impact on my imagination. After seeing it I began to make paintings with a positive and negative aspect. Even now almost all my work is black and white.” Life in Film: David Noonan, Frieze Magazine, Issue 102, October 2006.

VCE STUDIO ARTS

Unit 1, Outcome 2:

The interpretation and presentation of social themes in art of past and present: childhood and youth.

Consider the ways in which Noonan explores the theme of nostalgia and reflects on his own childhood to draw inspiration for his works. Compare Noonan’s works to other artists who have explored the theme of nostalgia.

Unit 2, Outcome 1:

Exploration of selected media, materials, techniques and working methods.

David Noonan creates collages to explore the theme of nostalgia.

In a visual diary, create a number of small collages using newspaper and magazine images as well as photographs (photocopied) of yourself from childhood or the past. Use these to assist with the development of a series of small experimental gouache paintings surrounding the theme of nostalgia.

VCE MEDIA

Unit 2, Outcome 1:

Media Production: Students produce a media product within a collaborative context and explain the process undertaken

David Noonan has created a number of films and videos that explore the horror/thriller genre or ‘film noir’, such as The Likening (2001) and SOWA (2005). In each of these films, he creates an atmosphere of suspense and unease and a sinister and threatening environment, using elements such as a single character in a state of anxiety and dramatic lighting.

Task:

As a class, or in small groups, script and create a ten minute horror/thriller film inspired by the film works by David Noonan. In visual diaries, display evidence of planning and identify the specific production roles and skills that were used in the creation of your film.

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LIST OF WORKS

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage210 x 300 cmsPrivate Collection, Athens

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage210 x 300 cmsCourtesy the Saatchi Gallery, London

David Noonan Untitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage225 x 210 cmsPrivate Collection, London

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage210 x 300 cmsPrivate Collection, Miami

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage200 x 142 cmsPrivate Collection

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage200 x 142 cms Private Collection

David NoonanUntitled 2008Silk screen on linen and jute collage200 x 142 cms Courtesy Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York

David NoonanUntitled 200819 sculptures each on birch ply and steel basesdimensions variable Courtesy the Artist and HOTEL, London

David NoonanUntitled 20082 sculptures each on birch ply and steel basesCourtesy the Saatchi Gallery, London

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david noonan scenes...(2005) and foxy production, new york (2004). his works have been presented in...

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