DAVID NOO­NAN | VIVI­ENNE SHARK LEWITT | JEN­NY WAT­SON | Thin Skin

Thin Skin is an exhi­bi­tion of paint­ings by Aus­tralian and inter­na­tion­al artists who explore the lim­i­nal space between fig­u­ra­tion and abstrac­tion. Guest curat­ed by Aus­tralian, Lon­don-based writer, cura­tor and for­mer edi­tor of frieze mag­a­zine, Jen­nifer Hig­gie, it will fea­ture works by more than thir­ty artists.

As a term, ​‘thin skin’ is joy­ful­ly ambigu­ous. Thin Skin refers not only to the del­i­cate mem­brane that sep­a­rates body, mind and envi­ron­ment, but to oth­er bor­ders: thresh­olds between rea­son and unrea­son, wis­dom and fool­ish­ness, life and death, the con­scious and uncon­scious, laugh­ter and weep­ing. To have ​‘thin skin’ is to be hyper­sen­si­tive to the world around you. Paint is a thin skin on a surface.

Some of the artists select­ed for Thin Skin employ absur­di­ty, slap­stick, par­o­dy, car­i­ca­ture and/​or dream­like log­ic to explore them­selves and their place in the world. Oth­ers depict bod­ies in rich, often inter­twined, con­ver­sa­tions with the psy­che, the land, domes­tic or work envi­ron­ments and with ani­mals. Thin Skin also embraces the idea of ​‘thin places’, an ancient term of mys­te­ri­ous prove­nance that refers to loca­tions with a unique or pecu­liar ener­gy. They are places that attract spir­its; they appear when the dis­tance between earth and heav­en nar­rows. In Thin Skin, the ephemer­al is made tangible.

The exhi­bi­tion will be accom­pa­nied by a ful­ly illus­trat­ed cat­a­logue fea­tur­ing new writ­ing by Jen­nifer Hig­gie and Chloe Arid­jis, award-win­ning Mex­i­can-Amer­i­can nov­el­ist and writer. It will be co-pub­lished by MUMA and Monash Uni­ver­si­ty Pub­lish­ing and launched at the exhi­bi­tion opening.

Thin Skin is accom­pa­nied by an immer­sive sound­scape com­posed by Aus­tralian musi­cal artists Suzie Hig­gie and Tim Oxley, that responds direct­ly to the exhi­bi­tion’s art­works, themes and cura­to­r­i­al concerns.

Artists: Mam­ma Ander­s­son (SE), Michael Armitage (KE/GB), Paul Beck­er (GB), Gor­don Ben­nett (AU), Karen Black (AU), Mia Boe (Butchul­la-Burme­se/AU), Lisa Brice (ZA/GB), Mitch Cairns (AU), David Egan (AU), Tracey Emin (GB), Den­zil For­rester (GD/GB), Peter Gra­ham (AU), Ellen Grone­mey­er (DE), Brent Har­ris (NZ/AU), Tama­ra Hen­der­son (CA/AU), Don­na Hud­dle­ston (IE/AU/GB), Doro­ta Jur­czak (PL), Tom Kreisler (AR/NZ), Tala Madani (IR/US), Helen Maud­s­ley (AU), Nick Mod­rzews­ki (AU), Sid­ney Nolan (AU/GB), David Noo­nan (AU/GB), Jen­nifer Pack­er (US), Jem Peruc­chi­ni (ET/IT), Ross­lynd Pig­gott (AU), Tom Polo (AU), Gareth San­som (AU), Kieren Sey­mour (GB/AU), Vivi­enne Shark LeWitt (AU), John Spi­teri (AU), Jele­na Telec­ki (HR/AU), Michelle Ussh­er (AU/GB), Jen­ny Wat­son (AU), Rose Wylie (GB) and Ms D. Yunupiŋu (Gumatj-Rir­ratjiŋu/AU).