Tracey Moffatt

In an exhibition which reinforces City Gallery Wellington’s position as New Zealand’s leading contemporary art gallery, we present Aboriginal artist Tracey Moffatt, considered by many in the art world to be Australia’s hottest artist. Moffatt’s photographs and films are regularly exhibited in galleries throughout Australia, Europe and the United States—City Gallery Wellington breaks new ground by staging the first major showing of her work in New Zealand.

Charged with eroticism, violence and humour, Moffatt’s work utilises the stylistic motifs of both popular and visual arts culture, suggesting critiques of the tensions that lie beneath contemporary society. Remodelling the images and stories of her youth, Moffatt in particular draws inspiration from the culture, film and television she was exposed to growing up. These sources are as diverse as B-grade movies, magazine photojournalism, and a wealth of 20th century auteur filmmaking. Theatrical lighting, postured choreography, artful composition and the strength of the lyricism and dramatic tension in her work create highly stylised artifice.

Often leaving the practical details to others, Moffatt is often present in her work herself, recasting herself in a multitude of roles.

The exhibition will provide an extensive retrospective of Moffatt’s work, extending right up to her latest series 2001’s Fourth and including her numerous film and video works. This large body of work shows an artist who has stylistically refused to stay still for long, with the enormously rich range of approaches bound together as tapestry by the strength of Moffatt’s concerns and artful stylisation.

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Tracey Moffatt