Anne Zahalka
(Australia 1957– )
- Title
- The writer (Dr Michael Haerdter/director, Künstlerhaus Bethanien)
- Year
- 1987
printed 2007 - Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- Ilfochrome photograph
- Edition
- Artist proof from an edition of 10 + 2 APs
- Dimensions
-
81.5 x 81.5cm image (sight); 85.4 x 85.4 x 3.7cm frame
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of the artist 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
- Accession number
- 395.2011
- Copyright
- © Anne Zahalka. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
As part of a generation of Australian women artists who came to the fore in the early 1980s, Anne Zahalka’s practice has always been concerned with questioning dominant myths and cultural constructs. The broad sweep of Zahalka’s oeuvre has often been underpinned by a common strategy: the world in her images appears as theatre where place, gender and national identity are questioned.
In 1986 Zahalka undertook a residency at the Künstlerhaus in Berlin where she produced the series ‘Resemblance’. This group of eleven, highly orchestrated portraits of her contemporaries, quotes widely recognised conventions from 15th-17th century European painting. In ‘The writer…,’ the then director of the Künstlerhaus Bethanien is posed to resemble a 16th century European intellectual as though painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. As a portrait of a real person and a commentary on representation, the work alludes to the ease with which identities can be arranged and re-arranged.
- Bibliography (1)
-
Centre for Contemporary Photography (Australia) (Author), Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka portraits 1987-2007, 2007, (illus.).
- Exhibition history (13)
-
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Centre for Contemporary Photography, 13 Mar 2007–12 May 2007.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Warrnambool Art Gallery, 15 Sep 2007–28 Oct 2007.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, National Portrait Gallery [Parliamentary Zone], 23 Nov 2007–31 Mar 2008.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Ipswich Art Gallery, 17 May 2008–27 Jul 2008.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, 29 Aug 2008–12 Oct 2008.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, 06 Dec 2008–01 Feb 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Artspace Mackay, 06 Feb 2009–22 Mar 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, 24 Apr 2009–21 Jun 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Riddoch Art Gallery, 04 Jul 2009–02 Aug 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, 26 Sep 2009–25 Oct 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Devonport Regional Gallery, 06 Nov 2009–31 Dec 2009.
Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Gippsland Art Gallery, 30 Jan 2010–28 Feb 2010.
(On loan to private collection), Private Collection, Mar 2010–Sep 2011.
