Piccinini patricia biography of alberta

Patricia Piccinini

Australian artist (born )

Patricia Piccinini (born in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture.

Her works focus on "unexpected consequences",^[1] conveying concerns surrounding bio-ethics and help visualize future dystopias. In , Piccinini represented Australia at the 50th Venice Biennale with a hyperrealist sculpture of her distinctive anthropomorphic animals.

In The Art Newspaper named Piccinini with her "grotesque-cum-cute, hyper-real genetics fantasies in silicone" the most popular contemporary artist in the world after a show in Rio de Janeiro attracted over , visitors.^[2] Natasha Bieniek's portrait of Piccinini was a finalist for the Archibald Prize.^[3]

Early life

Piccinini was born in Sierra Leone in to Teodoro and Agnes Piccinini.^[4]^[5]

She moved to Canberra, Australia when she was 7 years old.

She attended Red Hill Primary, Telopea Park High Institution and Narrabundah College (a secondary college).^[6]

Academia

After high school, Piccinini began studying economics at Australian National University.

Later she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in ^[7] In she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Visual and Performing Arts by the University of Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts and appointed their Enterprise Professor.

In she received the Artist Award from the Melbourne Art Foundation's Awards for the Visual Arts.^[8]

Works

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Before finding the medium of sculpture, Piccinini experimented with world-building through photography and digital enhancements.

‘The Mutant Genome Project’ (),^[9] features commercially available designer babies called LUMP (Lifeform with Unevolved Human Properties).^[10] Her ‘Protein Lattice’ () series features nude models posing with computer-generated mutant rats.

The two series explored the commercial side of science and brought up the question of ethics.^[11]

The Protein Lattice series was inspired by the famous Vacanti mouse experiment in The experiment formed a human ear on a rat.

The research’s objective was to learn more about cells, and how humans can possibly regrow body part.

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According to her National Gallery of Victoria biography:

Piccinini has an ambivalent attitude towards technology and she uses her esthetic practice as a forum for discussion about how technology impacts upon life.

She is keenly interested in how contemporary ideas of nature, the natural and the artificial are changing our society. Specific works have addressed concerns about biotechnology, such as gene therapy and ongoing investigate to map the human genome she is also fascinated by the mechanisms of consumer culture."^[7]

In , Piccinini presented 'Still Existence with Stem Cells',^[1] which features a series of flesh-like masses.

As she herself says:

"Stems cells are base cellular matter before it is differentiated into specific kinds of cells prefer skin, liver, bone or intellect. Pure unexpressed potential, they comprise the possibility for transformation into anything. They are the basic data format of the biological world.

Like digital data, their specificity lies in that, while they are intrinsically nothing, they can become anything. They are biomatter for the digital age.

I am interested in how this changes our idea of the body. Already our empathetic of the human genome leads us to imagine that we understand the construction of the body at its most intimate level; the stem cell provides us with a generic, plastic material from which we can construct it.

In the last ten years, the body has gone from something that is uniquely produced to something that can be reproduced.

This transformation has already occurred, with very little fuss given its magnitude. The question of whether this is a good or a bad thing is both too simplistic and a little academic.

As with so much of this biotechnology, the extraordinary has already become the ordinary. The real question is 'what are we going to do with it'. Still life with Stem Cells is one possible answer."^[12]

In , Piccinini represented Australia at the 50th Venice Biennale.

The work exhibited was 'We Are Family',^[13] an exhibition which displayed humanlike mutant figures behaving appreciate humans.

'The Long-Awaited' ()^[1] was a later work attempting to explore the theme of empathy through a lifelike sculpture of a child cradling a manatee-human hybrid.

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The Skywhale was a work commissioned by the ACT Government for its Centenary year. The ABC described the work as a "hot air balloon in the shape of a tortoise-like animal featuring huge dangling udders made from four hectares of nylon".^[14] The budget for the project was $, and has been the subject of comments made by ACT Chief Ministers Jon Stanhope and Andrew Barr.^[15]^[14]

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In a interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Piccinini said of her work, "It's about evolution, nature – how nature is such a wonderful thing, we're just here to witness it, it's not here for us – genetic engineering, changing the body."^[16] Following her win in the Melbourne Art Foundation's Awards, she went on to utter that:

The thing about this award on some levels is that my work all of it has this first impact, the sort of impact of spectacle.

It's beautifully made, mighty, aesthetic, so people are interested in that and it draws them in, and then they get interested in the concept. It takes a while to get to the idea. It's not easy. So this award says, "We get it, we get what you're trying to do, we've gone beyond the surface, we can see that there are ideas underneath, and these ideas are about the opportunity for connection".^[16]

In she presented as part of a collective exhibition titled Menagerie at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.^[17]

In , the TAC commissioned Piccinini to work in collaboration with Dr.

David Logan, a senior research fellow at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, and trauma surgeon Dr. Christian Kenfield, for Project Graham— as part of the TAC's thoroughfare safety campaign Towards Zero.^[18]^[19] "Graham", a lifelike, interactive sculpture, highlights how vulnerable the human body is to the forces committed in auto accidents.^[20] As the TAC explains: "Graham highlights the changes we need to create to protect ourselves from our own mistakes on the street.

At the centre of this system is the belief that human health is more significant than anything else, he is the embodiment of the Towards Zero vision."^[21]

The joint exhibition 'Patricia Piccinini & Joy Hester Through Love ' at TarraWarra Museum of Art included a recent site specific work 'Sanctuary': combining a sculpture of a pair of embracing anthropomorphic bonobo figures of silicone, fibreglass and hair; with a drawing on manuscript and digital wall print of multiple human limbs forming a horizon.

In , the National Gallery of Australia with the assistance of the Balnaves Foundation commissioned Skywhalepapa for the Skywhales: Every Heart Sings project. This work is a companion to the female Skywhale, although they are not necessarily mates.

Piccinini has stated that she created Skywhalepapa because she "thought it might be wonderful to show an image of a masculine carer; a Skywhalepapa along with his offspring" and that she "wanted to celebrate the evolution of fatherhood".^[22]

As part of the inaugural Rising Festival, Piccinini created the exhibition "A Miracle Constantly Repeated", which was her first extensive hometown show in almost two decades.

The exhibition ran from May until June , as a result of delays resulting from COVID lockdowns, as well as high demand.

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Taking place in the Flinders Street station ballroom, and consisting of a combination of hyper-real silicone sculptures, dioramas, video, sound and beam, the exhibition explores humanity’s association to technology and the environment, and conveys Piccinini's empathetic vision of a future built on resilience and care.^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]

Meaning

Piccinini never truly states what her personal beliefs are, most of the time opting for ambiguity.

She uses her art as a forum for viewers to venture their own beliefs on and start discussions. The grotesque visuals and themes offer a meaning of fantasy; the controversial nature she created encourages viewers to think. The idea that art should come from the artist's personal experience is completely disregarded.

In an interview with Dr. Louisa Penfold in about her ‘Art in Childhood’ series, Piccinini stated:

To me, art is really about having a conversation with others around ideas that are relevant and pertinent to our times.

In the 90s, making art around big ideas wasn’t as common and people were suspicious and would be enjoy, “that’s not real art because it’s not pure, it is sullied by real-life”. The only reason I make art is to be a part of the cultural conversation around what is happening to us in our lives.

Every single serve I make is around that and that’s the value in the work. I don’t deliberate that I could make labor just about me and my own emotional issues. I signify, my emotional issues are certainly my own brand that informs how I look at the world but my art is not about my personal history.^[28]

However, she has publicly stated that she is a feminist.

In an interview with Jaklyn Babington, formerly Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Australia, Piccinini stated that she is "incredibly interested in nurturing and nurture and the way that has been marginalised as 'women's work' in patriarchal society.

I trust that in a feminist nature, nurture and care should be at the forefront of our minds and not limited by gender or anything else."^[29]

Responses

Australian art critic John McDonald gives two reasons for disliking Piccinini's body of work: her method of employing artisans to create her designs: "The problem with this method is that the artist's role becomes that of a factory manager."^[30] and her engagement with issues such as cross-species relationships: "Given the current declare of the planet, in which political leaders are allowing the most blatant forms of racism and ethnic tension to grow normalised, Piccinini's interspecies fantasies appear horribly far-fetched."^[31]

Screen studies professor and animal ethicist Barbara Creed says Piccinini's work is loving and heals wounds of divisions: "In profound ways, Piccinini's artistic perform calls to the spectator to consider a new way of being, a new form of opening out an embracing difference, through new ways of looking that encourages us to watch alongside and with her creations while reminding us we are all animals."^[32]

In the May , Artforum featured Piccinini; professor of contemporary art Charles Green commented on Piccinini’s style of hyperrealism.

In his review, Green established the “unfashionable” hyper-real style paired with the late 60s and commended Piccinini for putting her own spin on it. Verdant reasoned that by creating an intriguing narrative Piccinini was proficient to make hyperrealism appealing to the general audience.^[33]

Post-humanism

Patricia Piccinini's works have been closely associated with and interpreted as post-human due to their subjects.

The depiction of vulnerability through themes of mutation, reproduction, motherhood, and childhood explores the economy of death. Her work affirms that posthuman ideology and femininity is liberation from modern practices such as genetic engineering and animal farms.^[34] For example, Piccinini engaged in the theme of surrogate motherhood, and inter-species relationships to transmit environmental turmoil.

Patricia Piccinini (born in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works focus on "unexpected consequences", [ 1 ] conveying concerns surrounding bio-ethics and help visualize future dystopias.

The surrogacy invokes concerns in regards to scientific exploitation, and rejects the concept of a normative human species.^[11]

References

^ ^a^b^cSmith, Terry (September ).

"Currents of world-making in contemporary art". World Art. 1 (2): – doi/ ISSN&#; S2CID&#;
^"Top ten contemporary shows in ". Retrieved 7 January
^"Archibald Prize Archibald work: Patricia Piccinini by Natasha Bieniek".

Art Gallery of Recent South Wales.
Patricia Piccinini - Curriculum Vitae: Patricia Piccinini on the art of human connection, The Canberra Times, March
Retrieved 6 May
^"Teodoro Piccinini Death Notice – Melbourne, Victoria | The Age". . Retrieved 9 June
^SMH ‘A superb thing’: what inspired Patricia Piccinini’s biggest creation yet Retrieved 17 May
^Warden, Ian (7 May ).

"Artist keeps mum on lofty theme". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 5 September
^ ^a^b"Biography: Patricia Piccinini". National Gallery of Victoria. Archived from the authentic on 3 April Retrieved 21 June
^" Awards Winners Announced &#; Melbourne Art Foundation".

Archived from the original on 3 April Retrieved 8 March
^"Patricia Piccinini: The Mutant Genome Plan, - Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery". . Retrieved 19 May
^"Explore the work of Australian artist, Patricia Piccinini".

Explore the work of Australian artist, Patricia Piccinini. Retrieved 19 May
^ ^a^bThe University of Western Australia. "Kim Toffoletti".

. Retrieved 19 May
^"Still Life With Stem Cells". . Retrieved 26 November
^"Patricia Piccinini – Artist Profile – Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery". . Retrieved 7 March
^ ^a^b"Artist Patricia Piccinini honoured with lifetime achievement award – Books and Arts – ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)".

Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
^"Skywhale not dead yet: ACT Chief Minister's radio gaffe – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 March
^ ^a^bCuthbertson, Debbie (17 July ).
Patricia Piccinini was born in Sierra Leone and lives in Australia. Her work encompasses sculpture, photography, video and drawing and her practice examines the increasingly nebulous boundary between the artificial and the natural as it appears in contemporary culture and ideas.
"Skywhale creator Patricia Piccinini wins national art prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May
^"Australian Centre for Contemporary Art". .
^"Sculpture to challenge Victorians' street safety attitude".

. 16 September Retrieved 5 September
^TAC. "Towards Zero". Road Safety Victoria.
^"TAC latest campaigns". (Victorian) Traffic Accident Commission. Retrieved 26 July
^"Meet Graham".

Traffic Accident Commission.
^Know My Name. National Gallery of Australia. pp.&#;–: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^"A MIRACLE CONSTANTLY REPEATED". Rising.
By Paul DalgarnoUniversity of Melbourne. Children, maybe 20 of them, are sitting on the gloomy polished floor at Tolarno Galleries in central Melbourne. As the father of an eight-year-old teen, I find their intense wind of concentration almost eerie. Some sit with their arms crossed; others lean elbows on their knees; heads are forward, eyes alert.
Retrieved 12 August
^"Patricia Piccinini: A Miracle Constantly Repeated". Timeout. Retrieved 12 August
^"Flinders Street Station's mysterious ballroom is reopening for RISING exhibition".

Beat. Retrieved 12 August
^Fleming, Kate. "Patricia Piccinini Is Taking Over The Flinders Street Station Ballroom For RISING Arts Festival". Urban List. Retrieved 12 August
^"Flinders Street Ballroom opens up for Patricia Piccinini's art show".

Facebook. ABC Melbourne. Retrieved 12 August
^louisapenfoldblog (28 October ). "Patricia Piccinini: Art in childhood series". Art. Play. Children. Learning. Retrieved 19 May
^Know My Name.

National Gallery of Australia. p.&#;: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^"Review Patricia Piccinini Curious Affection". Retrieved 7 January
^"Review Hyper Real". Retrieved 7 January
^Barbara Creed, 'Entangled looking&#;: The crisis of the animal', Artlink vol 38, no 1, March , pp
^"Charles Green on Patricia Piccinini".

. Retrieved 19 May
^Biscaia, Maria Sofia Pimentel (11 November ). "Loving Monsters: The Curious Case of Patricia Piccinini's Posthuman Offspring". Nordlit (42): 27– doi/ ISSN&#;