A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoserie
       
     
'Luna Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022
       
     
'Prince of Wales Wallpaper', Tarryn Gill, 2022 and 'George's Debts', Pilar Mata Dupont, 2022
       
     
'Gentle Misinterpretations' (detail), Andrew Nicholls, 2014-2022
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinosierie
       
     
'Surely This is Death', Tarryn Gill, 2022
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation- Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
'12,489 Prayers', Casey Ayres, 2021
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
'Chinoiserie Group', Tanija and Graham Carr, 2016-2022
       
     
'A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion', Theo Costantino, 2022
       
     
'Lotus Teapot', Sandra Black with Jin Jinhua, 2016
       
     
'Mere Whims and Chimera', Andrew Nicholls, 2018-2022
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
'Den', Cherish Marrington, 2022
       
     
'Sol Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

Fremantle Arts Centre, August-October, 2022

 

In 1999 Robert Copeland described the myriad of Willow Pattern tableware produced in Britain over the past three centuries as ‘gentle misinterpretations’ of Chinese culture. However Blue Willow – unquestionably the world’s favourite china motif – was in fact Chinoiserie, aggressively marketed to undercut the Chinese domination of the global ceramics market.

As a marketing ploy, the design was accompanied by an ‘authentic’ legend capitalising on the European craze for the ‘far East’, while simultaneously portraying Chinese culture as mysogenistic and tyrannical; it was so effective that Asian ceramicists were soon forced to copy the design, further fuelling the myth of its authenticity. The pattern’s ongoing popularity reflects the extent to which ‘the West’ was and continues to be fascinated by – and appropriate - the aesthetic traditions of Asia.

Chinoiserie remains something of a guilty pleasure, via its undeniable aesthetic charm, but intensely-problematic and kitsch appropriation of Asian culture. It reflects the worst excesses of colonial imperialism, yet reflects a level of fascination for the Asian ‘other’ that could be seen as (albeit naively) cosmopolitan in spirit. This exhibition invites a number Western Australian artists to develop new works investigating this aesthetic legacy.

The core of the exhibition will be the outcomes of a series of residencies at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, and the adjoining Brighton Pavilion, England, and The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China, between 2015-2018.

Image: Production still from Gulchenrouz by Andrew Nicholls. Image by Casey Ayres with thanks to the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton.

A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

Project participants

Project Curator

Andrew Nicholls

 

Participating artists

Abdul Abdullah

Casey Ayres

Nathan Beard

Sandra Black

Tanija and Graham Carr

David Charles Collins

Theo Costantino

Tarryn Gill

Pilar Mata-Dupont

Cherish Marrington

Andrew Nicholls

with

Marek Szyler

HIP Company with Teresa Tan

And artisans from Brighton, UK and Jingdezhen, China

Image: Detail view of A Gentle Misinterpretation installation at Fremantle Arts Centre featuring works by David Charles Collins, Tanija and Graham Carr, Andrew Nicholls, Theo Costantino, Nathan Beard, Susan Flavell, and Andrew Nicholls featuring HIP Company with Teresa Tan, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoserie

Exhibition entryway, photographed by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre. Plinth decoration by Marek Szyler.

'Luna Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022
       
     
'Luna Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022

Works by Tarryn Gill and Pilar Mata Dupont visible in background. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Prince of Wales Wallpaper', Tarryn Gill, 2022 and 'George's Debts', Pilar Mata Dupont, 2022
       
     
'Prince of Wales Wallpaper', Tarryn Gill, 2022 and 'George's Debts', Pilar Mata Dupont, 2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Gentle Misinterpretations' (detail), Andrew Nicholls, 2014-2022
       
     
'Gentle Misinterpretations' (detail), Andrew Nicholls, 2014-2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The China Closet’ and ‘The Bedroom Closet’ featuring works by Andrew Nicholls, Cherish Marrington, Pilar Mata Dupont, Tarryn Gill and Sandra Black, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Miles Noel, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinosierie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinosierie

‘The Bedroom Closet’ featuring works by Cherish Marrington, Pilar Mata Dupont and Tarryn Gill, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Miles Noel, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Surely This is Death', Tarryn Gill, 2022
       
     
'Surely This is Death', Tarryn Gill, 2022

Mixed media installation with printed curtain and hall runner. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation- Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation- Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Menagerie’ featuring works by Abdul Abdullah, Susan Flavell, Sandra Black, Andrew Nicholls and David Charles Collins, with plinth decoration by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Menagerie’ featuring works by David Charles Collins and Casey Ayres. Photograph by Dan McCabe and Andrew Nicholls, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Long Gallery’ featuring works by Casey Ayres, Cherish Marrington and Pilar Mata Dupont, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Miles Noel, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'12,489 Prayers', Casey Ayres, 2021
       
     
'12,489 Prayers', Casey Ayres, 2021

Visible in background are works by Sandra Black and Andrew Nicholls, wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Banqueting Room’ featuring works by David Charles Collins, Andrew Nicholls, Theo Costantino, Tanija and Graham Carr and Nathan Beard. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Banqueting Room’ featuring works by Susan Flavell, Sandra Black and Andrew Nicholls. Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Chinoiserie Group', Tanija and Graham Carr, 2016-2022
       
     
'Chinoiserie Group', Tanija and Graham Carr, 2016-2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion', Theo Costantino, 2022
       
     
'A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion', Theo Costantino, 2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Lotus Teapot', Sandra Black with Jin Jinhua, 2016
       
     
'Lotus Teapot', Sandra Black with Jin Jinhua, 2016

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Mere Whims and Chimera', Andrew Nicholls, 2018-2022
       
     
'Mere Whims and Chimera', Andrew Nicholls, 2018-2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

‘The Opium Den’ featuring works by Cherish Marrington and Abdul Abdullah. Photograph by Miles Noel, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Den', Cherish Marrington, 2022
       
     
'Den', Cherish Marrington, 2022

Photograph by Dan McCabe, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

'Sol Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022
       
     
'Sol Curtain', Andrew Nicholls, 2022

Visible in background are works by Casey Ayres, Pilar Mata Dupont, and Cherish Marrington, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Andrew Nicholls, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.

A Gentle Misinterpretation -  Australian Artists and Chinoiserie
       
     
A Gentle Misinterpretation - Australian Artists and Chinoiserie

The Chung Wah Chinese Orchestra performing in ‘The Banqueting Room’ at the launch event for A Gentle Misinterpretation. Visible are works by Andrew Nicholls, Theo Costantino, Tanija and Graham Carr, Nathan Beard and Andrew Nicholls featuring HIP Company with Teresa Tan, with wall murals by Marek Szyler. Photograph by Miles Noel, c/o Fremantle Arts Centre.