Modern Times / Mal’s solo show in Sydney

Modern Times / Malcolm Smith solo show

Newsagency Gallery, 14 November – 7 December 2014

“The Modern world was full of promise. Modern people were bright, optimistic and confident; secure in the knowledge that science was making life easier, that people were good, that fairness would prevail and that The Truth was within our grasp. When Modern Times ended, most people continued on like nothing had happened. It seemed like the best thing to do, given the circumstances.”

 The statement above was written retrospectively, in an attempt to reconcile the many thoughts that ran through my head in the progress of creating each series in this exhibition. These images were all printed on days off from my usual busy schedule at Krack Studio in Yogyakarta. They are in-between works – images I made on the spur of moment when I had a spare couple of days, or when we had an unused roll of paper, or there were some particularly tasty colours left over from a project we’d been working on. I didn’t labor over them or overthink them, and as a result they have a lightness about them that I like.

The exhibition opened in Sydney one week after Tanah Impian opened in Melbourne, which was good timing, as it meant Moki and Rudi were able to come up for the opening. After the show opened we spent a few days cruising around galleries in Sydney. The Pop show at AGNSW was good, especially for screenprinters. It was the first time any of us had seen Warhol’s original Marilyns.

Opening night: