Julie Gough at Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, 2007

Julie Gough is an artist with a lot to say - generally her work is exciting and engaging but not so in this most recent exhibition.
Julie Gough’s exhibition currently on show at Gabrielle Pizzi’s gallery in Melbourne is more about sentiment than art practice. Over past exhibitions I have found Julie Gough’s art practice provocative, but in this exhibition it is less engaging and verging sometimes on the overtly didactic.

Gough is an academic working in Townsville who has been successfully exhibiting for the past decade. Primarily working with photography or found objects she investigates her links to the land as a part Aboriginal.

The current exhibition explores the environment at Musselroe Bay, at the North Eastern tip of Tasmania that happens to be her mother’s family’s Traditional Country.

Recently, in response to a proposed development for an eco-tourist resort to be built in this country, Gough has brought her show to the walls. At the turn of the 19th century a number of Aboriginal women were abducted by sealers including, according to Gough one or her own relatives.

So, as a descendant of a tribe who once owned this land Gough has a case for investigating what continues to happen to this land. In Gough’s own words this exhibition brings together, in different mediums, stories that interrelate for me, particularly in terms of north east Tasmania; stories of disturbance, removal and return.

So there are important historical connections between the artist and this part of the coastline that could generate a great deal of interesting dialogue. But, I think the problem with this exhibition lies with the artist’s inability to actually visually generate much of interest, either thematically or with form and materials. Those who are familiar with Gough’s work would be aware of the visual interest she can generate in the objects displayed, but here the works are subdued leaving a sensation of the whole exhibition being uneventful, where the works struggle to keep up with the message.

I’d like to quote the artist (from her website): My works utilise found and constructed objects and techniques from diverse sources including the visual arts, the museum, the library, the shop, the garden and my heritage. Much of my influence and inspiration comes from the people, stories, places, skills of and connections to my maternal Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage. I create work by reusing natural materials and found, often kitsch, objects. I particularly enjoy responding to and reconfiguring natural materials including wood, stone, kelp, bark, shell into narratives that relate their original environment and my own and ancestors' encounters, actions and traces in these places with these same types of materials.

For me, many of the individual works in this exhibition are bland, tending to the banal. Gough has presented works in multiple media, including assemblages of found objects from the coastline, paintings including quotes from historical documents and hand stitching.

Whilst the battle for hearts and minds continues between artists of indigenous descent and the broader public the standard of work needs to meet the public’s expectations.

Julie Gough’s web site is http://homes.jcu.edu.au/~jc156215/CV.htm