Juan Davila
(Chile, Australia 06 Oct 1946– )
- Title
- Mexicanismo
- Year
- 1990
- Media category
- Mixed media painting
- Materials used
- oil, collage on canvas
- Dimensions
-
280.0 x 434.0cm
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased with assistance from the Rudy Komon Memorial Fund 1992
- Accession number
- 299.1992
- Copyright
- Unable to display image due to copyright restrictions
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Originally from Santiago, Chile, Juan Davila arrived in Australia in 1974 and lives in Melbourne. Well-known for the confrontational content of his paintings and installations that juxtapose pseudo-pornographic scenes with references to famous figures in high art and culture, Davila's main concern is to highlight the political, economic and sexual identities that differ across cultures. The patchwork style of his painting, 'Mexicanismo' 1990, questions the clichéd representation of Third World cultures as "exotic" and invokes the consumer excess of the developed world. Typical of Davila's work are the references to popular culture, kitsch, craft and American modernism, suggesting that identity itself is in a state of continual evolution and subject to the forces of dominant cultural models.
Art Gallery Handbook, 1994.
- Bibliography (6)
-
Anthony Bond (England; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Wayne Tunnicliffe (New Zealand; Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, 2006, 220, 221 (colour illus.).
Guy Brett (England), Roger Benjamin (Australia, b.1957), Juan Davila, 2006, 8, 9 (colour illus.), 18, 142-3 (colour illus.). fig.9, pl.52. Fig 9 is an installation view
Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 285 (colour illus.).
Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Susan McCulloch (England; Australia, b.1949) (Author), The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, St Leonards, 1994, 774 (colour illus.).
Anthony Bond (England; Australia) (Author), Yvonne Kennedy (Author), The 9th Biennale of Sydney: The Boundary Rider, Sydney, 1992, 22 (colour illus.).
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (Belgium) (Author), America: Bride of the Sun, 500 years Latin America and the Low Countries, Unknown, 1992, 248 (colour illus.). cat.no. 4
- Exhibition history (5)
-
Juan Davila, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 18 Sep 1991–05 Oct 1991.
America: Bride of the Sun, 500 Years Latin America and the Low Countries, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 02 Feb 1992–31 May 1992.
Juan Davila Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, 09 Sep 2006–12 Nov 2006.
Juan Davila Exhibition, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 30 Nov 2006–04 Feb 2007.
Juan Davila Exhibition, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 01 Aug 2007–31 Aug 2007.
