MILK

17th June – 16th August 2008
Anna Schwartz Gallery Carriageworks

The inau­gur­al exhi­bi­tion of Anna Schwartz Gallery Syd­ney is a pho­to­graph­ic his­to­ry doc­u­ment­ing the per­for­mance work of Mike Parr from 1971 — 2008. The per­for­mances have always been at the very core of Par­r’s work, and rep­re­sent a con­tin­u­ous and ongo­ing com­mit­ment to rad­i­cal con­tem­po­rary art prac­tice. They com­prise a sig­nif­i­cant basis for the var­i­ous oth­er forms with­in Par­r’s oeu­vre: the large scale draw­ings, the print project, the sculp­tur­al heads and the abstract objects. All are under­pinned by this vast and pro­found his­to­ry of self exam­i­na­tion and projection.

Sig­nif­i­cant­ly, MILK’ is the first exhi­bi­tion to present a focused inves­ti­ga­tion of Par­r’s per­for­mance projects and attests to the cen­tral­i­ty and impor­tance of his long term con­tri­bu­tion to Aus­trali­a’s cul­tur­al life.

The pho­tographs were made with a num­ber of Aus­tralian pho­tog­ra­phers. These include Paul Green, John Dela­cour, George Gold­berg, Peter Mudie, Neal Oshi­ma and Feliz­itas Parr.

A vol­ume doc­u­ment­ing this aspect of Mike Par­r’s work is being pub­lished simul­ta­ne­ous­ly with this exhi­bi­tion. MIKE PARR, PER­FOR­MANCES 1971 – 2008, by SCHWARTZ CITY.

Images

MILK, 2008

MILK, 2008
Instal­la­tion view, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Carriageworks
Pho­to: Paul Green

MILK, 2008
Instal­la­tion view, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Carriageworks
Pho­to: Paul Green

MILK, 2008
Instal­la­tion view, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Carriageworks
Pho­to: Paul Green

Drip blood from your fin­ger onto the lens of a camera…until the lens is filled with blood., 1972
Photograph
120140 cm

Crush some meat in your hand, 1972
Photograph
120180 cm

Pull hairs in your armpit, 1972
Photograph
120180 cm

Stuff your nose with bread, 1972
Photograph
120180 cm

Stretch your right eyelid, 1972
Photograph
120180 cm

Push a fish up your nose, 1975
Photograph
120180 cm

Infect­ed leg spiral, 1975
Photograph
120180 cm

Have a brand­ing iron made up with the word ARTIST. Brand this word on your body., 1973
Photograph
150120 cm

Cathar­tic Action: Social Ges­tus No. 5 (the Arm­chop”), 1977
Photograph
120150 cm

Fish and molasses to feet, 1975
Photograph
120120 cm

Stone cir­cle, 1977
Photograph
120150 cm

Hold your breath under water for as long as possible, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Hold a light­ed match in your mouth… until the roof of your mouth is burnt. (Wound by Mea­sure­ment 3.), 1972
Photograph
120180 cm

Push tacks into your leg until a line of tacks is made up your leg. (Wound by Mea­sure­ment 1., 1973
Photograph
120180 cm

Leg Spi­ral, 1975
Photograph
180120 cm

Totem Mur­der 1, 1975
Photograph
120120 cm

Totem Mur­der 2, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Fam­i­ly under water, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Wrapped in my own Words, 1977
Photograph
120150 cm

Close a street in the city. Make camp­fires on the desert­ed street under the shad­ows cast by the sky­scrap­ers. Cook meat around the fires., 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Nose cone, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Shiv­er­ing, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

Blood Box, 2008
Photograph
150120 cm

White, 2008
Photograph
180120 cm

Best Man, Prim­i­tive Gifts, 2006
Photograph
180120 cm

Prick Into I, 2004
Photograph
180120 cm

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi (Demo­c­ra­t­ic Torture), 2003
Photograph
180120 cm

Krushchev Mur­ders Beria, 2003
Photograph
180120 cm

UnAus­tralian, 2003
Photograph
100180 cm

Close the Con­cen­tra­tion Camps, 2002
Photograph
180120 cm

Water from the Mouth, 2001
Photograph
120150 cm

Boobial­la Couta, 1998
Photograph
120150 cm

Female Fac­to­ry, 1998
Photograph
120180 cm

Dead Sun, 1997
Photograph
120120 cm

Por­trait of M & F, 1996
Photograph
150120 cm

Unword (Father, Sis­ter, Jesus, Moth­er, Marx, Mir­ror, Arm, Word, God), 1996
Photograph
120120 cm

Day Break, 1995
photograph

Black Leg (Mama/​Papa), 1993
Photograph
150120 cm

Mother/​Father Self Portrait, 1993
Photograph
180120 cm

The Emet­ics (Pri­ma­ry Vom­it): I am Sick of Art [Red, Yel­low and Blue] Blue, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm

The Emet­ics (Pri­ma­ry Vom­it): I am Sick of Art [Red, Yel­low and Blue] Yellow, 1977
Photograph
120140 cm