A Curious Evolution at Deakin Art Gallery

Personality profiling and radical photo artistry combine spectacularly in Deakin Art Gallery's fourth exhibition for 2015, A Curious Evolution, by Australian artists Rose Farrell and George Parkin.

Open to the public from Wednesday 22 July, A Curious Evolution considers the fanciful imaginings of early personality profiling from a historical perspective.

Sadly, the exhibition also represents the last body of work Farrell and Rose created together before Parkin's death in 2012.

The exhibition has been curated by Wendy Garden, Senior Curator at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, through the Deakin University Museum Studies Alumnus Program.

As Ms Garden explains, the artists' works push the boundaries of photographic portraiture to investigate the history of various forms of archaic medical knowledge.

"In the sixteenth century, a desire to fix difference was expressed in studies of the physiognomic similarities observed between animals and humans. This led to comparisons that made a case for the animal logic in human nature," she said. 

"In their last body of work together, Farrell and Parkin investigate this history and the absurdist claims that stood for knowledge.

"Their evocative images and sculptures reflect upon the intangible elements of character and the camera's role in codifying difference."

A Curious Evolution will be on display from Wednesday 22 July to Friday 28 August.

Key Dates

A Curious Evolution: Rose Farrell and George Parkin
Dates: 22 July – 28 August
Location: Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. By appointment on Monday for groups over 10.
Cost: Free entry

Free Curator Talk
Join exhibition curator Wendy Garden for a free exhibition floor talk in the exhibition space.
Date: Wednesday 22 July
Time: 5.30pm
Location: Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway
RSVP: (03) 9244 5344 or email Deakin Art Gallery 

Opening function
Date: Wednesday 22 July
Time: 6pm
Location: Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway
RSVP: (03) 9244 5344 or email Deakin Art Gallery 

About the Artists

Since the mid-1980s, Rose Farrell and George Parkin have been at the forefront of photographic practice in Australia and gained international recognition for their subversive imagery. They have worked collaboratively to produce elaborate photographic tableaux in which they consider various forms of archaic medical knowledge.

Their use of often disturbing subject matter, elaborate sets and bizarre scenarios (usually constructed in their own home) has attracted international attention for two of Australia's most radical photo artists.

Farrell and Parkin are represented in national and international collections, including: Polaroid Corporation, Polaroid International Collection, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Musee de la Photographie a Charleroi, Charleroi , Belgium; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra;  Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Artbank, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; and the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne.