Saturday 10 November 2012

Chelsea HOPPER - "Dead Tired"

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"Beached"

"Pooped"       

Images courtesy of artist and Bruce Gallery

The latest exhibition at BruceGallery by artist Chelsea Hopper gives us insight into the practice of sunbathing by seniors. What comes to mind is contemporary version of The Sunbaker by Max Dupain.

Random individuals are photographed on various beaches throughout Perth tanning on towels oblivious to their surroundings. Enlarged postcards of retirement in its glorious form. Hopper has used the out-dated mode of film in an SLR camera. She had the images printed and then Hooper enlarged them herself.

One image titled "Pooped" is of a man who is lying facedown under a tree on a beach, fully clothed taking a rest from the world. He looks to be a tourist that is lost and stranded and is exhausted falls onto the sand. Another image titled "Beached" depicts a woman with a floral swimsuit, facedown on a towel with her belongings for the day beside her. It could be her only solace between looking after grandchildren and cooking for the husband.

Hopper has creatively depicted this genre of people, not the grey nomads but the over sun-kissed retirees, busking in all their glory.

Until the 17th of November, 2012

http://www.bruce.org.au/
http://www.chelseahopper.com/