The Wallpaper Project (QLD)

When: 12th November - 24th December 2009

The Wallpaper Project, a unique and groundbreaking blend of contemporary art and interior design, is the result of a partnership between The University of Southern Queensland and Wilding Wallpaper Design & Production.

This touring exhibition of art wallpapers, curated by Simon Mee and William Wilding, features the work of Rob MacHaffie, Anne Wallace (in collaboration with Aaron Hill), Lisa Radford, Simon Mee, Tiffany Shafran, Sadie Chandler and Megan Keating.

ARTIST'S TALK : 19 NOV 10:00AM - 11:00AM

Please join us for a lively talk about wallpaper, art and design by Simon Mee and Anne Wallace. Simon, exhibitor and co-curator will discuss the origins of the project, the rationale for the selection of the artists and the challenging process of getting contemporary art wallpapers into production. Anne will discuss her work in the exhibition and the crossovers between contemporary art and interior design. LIMITED PLACES so please rsvp to info@artisan.org.au by TUES 17th NOV. ADMISSION IS FREE.

Artisan Art Gallery

381 Brunswick Street

Tuesday to Friday 10:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday  10:00am - 4:00pm

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"This WALPAPER is killing me... one of us has to go”. Oscar Wilde uttered this final hyperbolic gem shortly before his death in 1900. In doing so, he pinpoints the crucial difference between two dimensional artworks and wallpaper—one requires active engagement whilst the other offers an immersive experience.

To engage with a painting, we must consciously approach the work, whereas with wallpaper, we are more likely to find ourselves looking without realising. In this way, wallpaper can be a map of our own silent projections.

In contemporary art, we see examples of wallpaper which challenge both the traditional methods of design and also the way we think about art. Andy Warhol’s cow wallpaper from 1966 emphasised the democratic nature of machine made art. Robert Gober’s Sleeping Man Hanging Man infused a mundane domestic surface with highly charged political imagery; the result was a pointed reference to the (then apathetic) state of American race relations. Alternatively, the bright bold geometric wallpaper patterns by Liam Gillick revisit the geometric designs in wallpaper from the sixties and seventies.

Wallpaper is now booming again. Online design studios such as Domestic and Timorous Beasties are notable for their provocative wallpapers. Designs from the Timorous Beasties include scenes of prostitutes and junkies which are framed within Victorian designs, and so their studio has been described as “William Morris on acid”. Domestic introduces objects where the end user can intervene and participate in the creation process. Their catalogue includes wall stickers which take the form of a silhouette of a bookshelf. It is then up to the client to position the accompanying adhesive vases, lamps and ornaments. The popularity of these studios signals a broader appetite for interior design which offers a witty interpretation of contemporary culture.

This exhibition, initiated by Simon Mee, is similarly inventive. The project has been the culmination of his fascination with ornate styles of interior design, his collaboration with William Wilding, and the recruitment of artists whom he respects and admires. In these designs, we see how each artist has negotiated the conceptual and material parameters of wallpaper making.

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