Where Clothes?
The Sunday Age
Sunday September 21, 2008
WHERE CLOTHES?
Helen Gory Galerie, 23 St Edmonds Rd, Prahran.Tel: 9525 2808. helengory.com. Until Oct 11,Tue-Sat 11am-6pm."There's nothing to be ashamed of, you know," say the middle-aged nudists to their children. "Weird," say the teenagers, "that's just what they tell us at the Young Embroiderers Club." Perhaps such a scene played out at Tim Moore's place as his parents left for the colony dressed only in ugh boots and bike helmets. Where Clothes? combines two great shames, craft and parents, presenting a gentle character assassination of old nudists embroidered on linen. Moore's titles wryly allude to porn (see Granny Going Down) and lampoon lame, comfortable politics (The Sorry Bubbles is a floppy-hatted lady carrying an Aboriginal flag and a can of VB). But he lays bare his own shame too. A series of prints reveals the reverse side of each work - loose threads hanging from the boobs of the nudists, their crosshatched eyeballs drooping weirdly. And here, abstraction works its magic, revealing the complex personal turmoil underlying each butt cheek.
© 2008 The Sunday Age