Personal Best

Written By Tesha Malott

110%, Amber Boardman, Will French, Kate Mitchell, Sara Morawetz, JD Reforma, and Min Wong
Personal Best
Curated by Tesha Malott, Rebekah Raymond and Helen Waller
8 November - 15 December, 2018

Installation view, left to right. Small screen on plinth, black journal on wall. Video monitor in the corner with 2 stools and headphones. Floor work of wooden pole and bent metal. Framed print, video monitor and bicycle hung on the walls.

Personal Best, Installation View, 2018. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Artist Statement

Originally, a personal best was a sporting term, describing the greatest achievement one had ever had. Now it could be argued that achieving one’s personal best is an underlying motivation for every action we take. This exhibition asks the question—what is it about the human condition that makes us push ourselves to be faster, higher and stronger and how does ‘wellness’ fit into this dialogue? While the pressure to be successful in the era of Capitalism isn’t new, the exhibition looks at how we view achievement today, when now more than ever the the cult of the winner is revered.

Personal Best has been curated by the Verge team and features artists 110%, Amber Boardman, JD Reforma, Kate Mitchell, Min Wong, Sara Morawetz and Will French who will present works illustrating different perspectives on success, failure and the absurdity of seeking impossible perfection.

Close up, abstract textured painting in yellow, pink, beige and black. Picturing rough brush strokes, distorted hands with red nails and an abstract portrait of a woman with heavy makeup and blonde hair in the center.

Amber Boardman, Glamour Machine, 2018, oil on canvas, 153 x 122cm. Photography Zan Wimberley.

Left to right. Metal frame with weaved leather straps. 2 Exercise foam rollers. 2 suspended punching-bag-shaped works in black and pastel. Behind, large, printed banner with photo collaged design of the sky and palm trees.

(left to right) Min Wong, Relax and release, steel, leather, press stud, paint, brass, 1300 x 600 x 400mm, 2018. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Nirvana, 2018, printed banner, eyelets, steel rod, chain, 5000x 2300mm. Photography Zan Wimberley.

Crawling is acceptable
Falling is acceptable
Puking is acceptable
Blood is acceptable
Paint is acceptable
QUITTING IS NOT, 2018, printed material, steel, rubber, brass, chain, 1000 x 450 x 450mm. Photography Zan Wimberley.

Own it , 2018, bronze, found object, dimensions variable, Photography Zan Wimberley.

Left to right. Monitor displaying 2 figures in the corner. Distorted, upside down metal sign with wood pole. Framed print. Long monitor in the corner. Bicycle hanging perpendicularly on a wall.

Personal Best, Installation View, 2018. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Large, metallic circle on the wall, with several small white pages with circular patterns and designs.

JD Reforma, Sense and sentimos, rubbings and inkjet print on the Manila Hotel Stationery, 2018, Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Left to right. Small screen on plinth, black book on wall. Large painting. Monitor in the corner. Wall with black text vinyl with show title and artist names.

Personal Best, Installation View, 2018. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Close up of white framed illustration in blue, grey, maroon and gold. Picturing figures in bikinis on a gold cup, filled with red grapes and flowers. Background of grey lotus flowers and blue wave designs.

Kate Mitchell, installation detail, 2018. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Close up of white framed illustration. Red vase with drawing of green figure with knife and patterns, with wellow flowers and dark green leaves inside. Background of a light blue lattice. flowers and leaves in brown, light green, white and yellow.

Kate Mitchell, Future Archeological Digs (a multitasker getting dinner ready & taking the power back), 297mm x 420mm, Digital Print on watercolour paper, Edition of 5 + 2AP, 2018, Photography by Zan Wimberley.

White wall with 4 colourful illustrations in white frames.

(L-R) Kate Mitchell, Future Archeological Digs (seduction perfected from hours of bedroom mirror practice), 297mm x 420mm, Digital Print on watercolour paper, Edition of 5 + 2AP, 2018.
Future Archeological Digs (expectation vs differing platforms of reality), 297mm x 420mm, Digital Print on watercolour paper, Edition of 5 + 2AP, 2018,
Future Archeological Digs (drinking fatblaster cocktails on holidays then documenting and sharing it) , 297mm x 420mm, Digital Print on watercolour paper, Edition of 5 + 2AP, 2018.
Future Archeological Digs (a multitasker getting dinner ready & taking the power back), 297mm x 420mm, Digital Print on watercolour paper, Edition of 5 + 2AP, 2018, Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Close up. Ipad on white plinth, displaying a photo of a diary spread. Some black hand written text in the journal reads: "6:02 AM - tears on public transport. 3:30 PM - A stumble on a perfectly even footpath."

Sara Morawetz, ALL MY FAILURES , [part of series All My... (2017-ongoing)], Runway Australian Experimental Art Magazine commission, Artist Book and iPad, A5, 2017, Photography by Zan Wimberley.

A small black leather note book hung on a white wall. Embossed text on the book cover reads: "ALL MY FAILURES. JULY 2017".

Sara Morawetz, ALL MY FAILURES, [part of series All My... (2017-ongoing)], Runway Australian Experimental Art Magazine commission, Artist Book, 2017. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

Roomsheet

Tesha Malott
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2018 Artistic Program
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