Subterfuge represents Meg Jenkins’ first solo show at Despard Gallery.
Those familiar with the images from the ‘but’ show
of 1999 would recall her symbiotic merging of man made patterns and the
tradition of gender beauty.
Clearly Jenkins has evolved into a far more reductive creature. From
the body, she removed the flesh to reveal
skeletal properties - but not human. Being physically located in
Sydney, she sought the solace of
architecture with the ribs, the spine, the pelvis, substituted for the
grid of contemporary skyscrapers. But this was merely
the beginning of her compulsive journey into further formalist
negotiations.
Even
colour disappeared as with minimalism - grid abstraction accelerated,
colliding briefly with grabs of graffiti to finally
reassert itself as subterfuge.
Wayne Brookes 2007
