Curtain line (Australian crowd no. 2)

Jon Cattapan's paintings of the early 2000s addressed the anxiety and paranoia gripping an increasingly borderless and globalised world at the turn of the 21st century. This is exemplified in his work, 'Curtain line (Australian crowd no 2)' 2001, which was painted in response to the Australian Government's controversial politicisation of asylum seeking during the Tampa affair and the so-called 'children overboard' scandal in late 2001. By stoking the public's fear over refugees and immigration post 9/11, the Government sought to get re-elected on its tough stance on border control. In the foreground, Cattapan depicts the silhouette of an anonymous crowd, possibly protestors or stranded migrants, cordoned off from the rest of the world beyond the 'curtain line', represented by a shimmering network of dots and lines that alludes to the digital and architectural infrastructure that facilitates the fluid interchange of people, resources and information in our interconnected age.