NYAB Event - Farrell and Parkin "Restoration"

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At M.Y. Art Prospects
Media: Photography

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Farrell and Parkin, the leading contemporary photography artists in Australia, are widely known for their unique collaborative projects exploring the history of medicine through the application of complex theatrical scenery using large format photography.

In Restoration, Farrell and Parkin draw their inspiration from the classical style of the Renaissance. While their previous work has exuded the dark, raw atmosphere of the medieval period, their latest theatrical scenes are lighter in mood and more refined. These carefully arranged tableaux bring to mind fine Renaissance perspective drawings. Each image in the series features an injured aristocratic man or woman lying on a sumptuously draped daybed in an environment of magnificent arches and columns. The figures look pale and wan as if they were hovering between life and death and resigned to their fate. Papier-mâché hands and other props attached to the figures suggest arcane medical treatments. This rather disturbing subject matter is executed in beautiful pastel tones achieved through the “afterglow” of photographic lighting. The images as a whole evoke a strange sense of tranquility.

Farrell and Parkin once again emphasize the fragility of human body through their enigmatic representation of traditional medical treatments. Farrell and Parkin's fictitious historical tableaux make us aware that the vulnerability of human body has essentially remained unchanged throughout history.

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