eX De Medici

eX De Medici is an Australian female artist, whose works include Installation art, painting, photography, and drawing. Her works often deal with concepts of power and violence, and recurring motifs include skulls, helmets, guns and the swastika symbol. [1] She has exhibited widely across Australia and is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra Museum and Gallery, Australian state galleries and in private collections. de Medici was an Artist Fellow at the CSIRO for more than a decade, was awarded a print making fellowship in 2006, and was an official war artist for The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. She will be a featured artist in the NGA's major exhibition in 2020-2021, Know My Name, that will feature Australian women artists 1900 to today.[2]

Early life and education

The artist was born 12 April 1959 at Coolamon, in the Riverina district in south western New South Wales.[3][4] but grew up in Canberra, ACT.

She attended the Canberra School of Art, combining performance, installation and photography in her fine art degree.[5][6]

In 1988, while in Melbourne, she received her first tattoo. For the next 12 years she worked as a tattoo artist. She was awarded an Australian Council Overseas Development Grant and apprenticed to a tattoo artist in Los Angeles. During the 1990s she exhibited photographs and drawings of her tattoo work. [2]

Work

Active in the Canberra Arts Community, eX de Medici participated in a working group supporting the establishment of a Contemporary Art Space in Canberra, which held a public meeting at Gorman House in Braddon ACT in 1986.[7] The invitation to the opening of the Canberra Contemporary Art Space notes "an exhibition of site specific works" including her work (July - August 1987).[8]

In 1998 she saw botanical art paintings of Australian native flora painted in the early nineteenth century in watercolour. Seeing a connection between the detailed paintings and her own tattoo art, eX de Medici began painting in watercolour in a highly detailed style. [2]

De Medici then lived for 18 months (1998 - 2000) on Norfolk Island working on a large watercolour painting containing details of flowers, fruit, porcelain and skulls which referenced her own family history. This work, entitled Blue [Bower/Bauer] 1998-2000, was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in 2004 and will feature in the NGA's Know My Name exhibition in Canberra over 2020/21.[9]

Back in Australia, she began work on a detailed painting of moths. She turned to Australia's science organisation CSIRO for help and for twelve years worked with them as an Artist Fellow.[2]

In 2006 de Medici was awarded APW Collie Print Trust Printmaking Fellowship.[10]

In 2009, she was an official war artist for the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.[11]

Exhibitions

An untitled photocopy piece appeared at the Bitumen River Gallery exhibition "The Printed Image" (April–May 1986).[12]

She was among artists appearing in the Australia & Regions Artists' eXchange (ARX87), Perth and Fremantle, Western Australia in September 1987.[13] The ARX87 June Newsletter described her (as) "producing a work in two parts, one for Canberra and one for Perth, utilizing photocopiers and generating images in response to the Perth locality, placed in public spaces with regular changes."[14]

Her "Scenes from an Ivory Tower" was exhibited in 1987 at "Utopia Nowhere", Gallery 111, Canberra.[15] The work also appeared at The Canberra Contemporary Art Space (May–June 1988),[16] and The Australian Centre for Photography (April–May 1989).[17] The Australian Centre for Photography Exhibition Programme described the work as "A large scale work in composite laser photocopy...a long-term working title for a view from the Political Capital. The work addresses...the 'Violent Act', particularly those perpetrated by women on women, and the cultural positioning of the 'victor' and victim'."[18]

Text works eX de Medici were performed at Galerie Constantinople, Queanbeyan in December 1988.[19]

A colour screenprint titled Alexis says desire drules, Ok was included in "Posters - the politics of life" at aGOG in Canberra in April 1989.[20]

Her painting Cure For Pain was a major donation to the Australian War Memorial in 2017, made by Erika Krebs-Woodward through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.[21]

References
  1. "Biography of eX de Medici". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. "Know My Name". nga.gov.au. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  3. "eX de Medici | Biography". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. Biographical note in "Posters - the politics of life", aGOG (A Girl's Own Gallery) exhibition opening catalogue, 19 April 1989. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  5. "eX de Medici", Know My Name article by Dr Nicola Teffer in consultation with the National Gallery of Australia curatorial and research staff, National Gallery of Australia website. Approved by the artist.
  6. "Perspectives: Jon Cattapan and eX de Medici | The Australian War Memorial". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  7. Public Meeting flyer, "You are invited to a meeting to discuss the establishment of a Contemporary Art Space in Canberra", Tuesday 21 October 1986. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  8. Invitation to "SiteSpecificCity", the official opening of the Canberra Contemporary Art Space, 10 July 1987. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  9. "eX de Medici: Emblems of Death Transformed |". Escape Into Life. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. "eX de Medici". Australian Print Workshop. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  11. "Australian official war artists - Conflicts 1945 to today". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  12. "The Printed Image" catalogue, Bitumen River Gallery, 16 April - 4 May 1986. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  13. Flyer, "Australia & Regions Artists' eXchange", an international forum for visual art practices, September 6–10, 1987. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  14. Australia and Regions Artists' Exchange (ARX87) June News. Newsletter held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  15. "Utopia Nowhere" exhibition catalogue, 31 October - 22 November 1987. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  16. Canberra Contemporary Art Space Exhibition flyer, "Scenes from the Ivory Tower, works on Paper by ex de Medici, 12 May - 4 June 1988. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research Library and Archive collection.
  17. The Australian Centre for Photography flyer "Scenes from the Ivory Tower" ex de Medici, 26 April - 21 May 1989. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research Library and Archive Collection.
  18. The Australian Centre for Photography Ltd, Exhibition Programme February–May 1989; April 26 - May 21, Gallery 2, EX DE MEDICI, "Scenes from the Ivory Tower". Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research Library and Archive Collection.
  19. Flyer, Galerie Constantinople, 9 December 1988. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  20. "Posters - the politics of life", aGOG (A Girl's Own Gallery) exhibition opening catalogue, 19 April 1989, Cat. no. 2. Held by the National Gallery of Australia Research and Archive Collection.
  21. "Major painting by renowned artist eX de Medici donated to Australian War Memorial". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
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