Softcore is a sparse and painfully contemporary exhibition of three artists across sculpture and video. A grouping of convenience, the three artists involved all participated in residencies at House Conspiracy in West End. Despite the obvious feminist connotations of the materials and imagery curator Jonathan O’Brien presents the connecting thread as ‘joy’. It seems like an ironic conscious uncoupling with the pervasive anxiety of contemporary life. 

 

On entering the exhibition, Jesse Perrin’s soft wrapped wool sculpture is directly in the path of the viewer.  Playing on the senses including scent, Perrin seeks an intimate connection with the viewer. Reminiscent of Hiromi Tango’s wrapped works, they also feature a community element. The making was a collaborative process, but Tango’s unruly wonderlands are at odds with the contained budding groupings of Perrin’s Euphoric Hue.

 

Amanda Wolf’s video work Bump and Grind spills into sculpture as costumes and props lie in a rumpled heap in the window. Wolf arranges the debris as if asking the viewer to piece together their former lives. Like a surreal nightmare, bright colours and garish masked figures thrust hips and stroke phallic protuberances to upbeat music in stereo. The vignettes, repeated in an endless short loop, take on the inanity of advertising. It’s an amusing work that livens up the space.

 

Rhiannon Dionysius’ Bath Scene 2 is disturbing, interesting and, in a weird way, almost romantic. In an almost-cute scene, two glistening carcasses sit in a bubbling bath as they exchange fluids. The work is a disconcerting characterisation of contemporary relationships. I quite like it. 

 

Softcore redefines the term as both feminine and abrasive. Maybe the feminist theme for artists who also happen to be women is a little tired. Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party of a triangular table of vaginal place-settings was first erected in 1974. While these works are in the same vein, Softcore is the neon/digital version of brash feminism. Amongst the night spots of The Valley is probably the perfect place for it. 

 

Softcore is on at This Must be the Place in Fortitude Valley until 19 August.

 

by Rosie Goldfeder