Some Like it Hot is an exhibition that intersects sweat, sex, desire and discord in Darwin, Australia’s hottest and most remote capital city.
The exhibition showcases works by much-lauded Territory-based artists Therese Ritchie and Franck Gohier, well known for their satirical work that combines wit and humour with astute social observation. Here curator Wendy Garden reflects on their practice through the lens of gender representation in the context of settler imaginings of the tropics.
Both Gohier and Ritchie have spent much of their impressive careers in Darwin, putting human behaviour under a philosophical microscope. Ritchie brings her background in journalism, her political awareness and her sharp eye for design to her insightful take on the world we live in. Gohier born in France arrived in Australia as a child and moved to Darwin with his family in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy. Sifting through the domestic debris of that devastation began a fascination with collage and the expressive possibility of utilising seemingly random combinations to highlight an inherent absurdity. Both artists unsettle us and encourage us to engage more critically with perceptions of the everyday.
Reflecting its Top End genesis, this exhibition about heat, place and gendered behaviour is challenging, amusing, irreverent and impressive. but most of all, Some Like it Hot is very cool.
