Colliding Islands

9 April – 3 June 2011

Colliding Islands explores the shifting cultural significance of landscape, from traditional concepts of nature to the socio-urban topography of
contemporary identities. Specifically, it considers the complex, and sometimes ambivalent, relationships we have with local and international landscapes, including conflicted landscapes.

Traditionally the well-established landscape genre in Australia transplanted a nostalgic, colonising view, reminiscent of the mother country, onto the landscape. Gradually this was mitigated by changing attitudes to the Australian bush from that of a harsh, uninhabitable environment that required subjugation to a more sensitive and conservation focused exploration. Inspired by the landscape, artists explored a dichotomy between intense light, harsh colours and sensuous organic forms that was reflective of Australian debates, contributing to national identities and mythology. However, the contemporary landscapes that surround us are multi-layered and increasingly informed by international histories and politics.

Colliding Islands challenges conventional perceptions of landscape. The traditional landscape genre is subverted, individually and collectively, through a diversity of physical and psychological ‘landscapes’. In effect, reflecting collisions with technology and questions how ‘landscapes’ are constructed, ordered and defined.

This exhibition is accompanied by an online catalogue.

Image: Heeseop Yoon, Junkshop, 2009. Photograph by Peter Angus Robinson (detail).