Lisa Roet

The exhibition features a variety of small sculptures and offers an alternative and intimate perspective to a genre, often focused on large-scale. The objects presented in the exhibition are small...

Thomas Huxley’s nineteenth century view that "nature is nasty and indifferent, and mortality is the sword forged by man to slay the dragon of its animal past" has evolved into that of an age of empathy in the twenty-first century. An artist’s role is to tease the imagination, and hint at possibilities, while science demonstrates through repeated observations and solid data. Through Roet’s own limited research into animal behaviour, she has attempted to follow the path of the scientist through the eye of the artist and produce a series of moments of observation to support the idea that we are living in "the age of empathy".

Earlier in the year Art Basel Hong Kong was cancelled amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus. Having worked on the presentation for many months it has been reconceptualised and a version will be shown at our Lorne St Gallery for two weeks before we close to prepare for Bernar Venet's performance on 25 March.

Selected for the Kabinett sector our planned presentation for Hong Kong included a designated focus on prominent painter Judy Millar. Together with her solo presentation of recent works, was a group of works by Oceanic artists including Colin McCahon (NZ, 1919-1987), Dale Frank (AU, b. 1959), John Pule (Niue, b.1962) and Lisa Roet (AU, b. 1967). While Millar's body of work will be shown at another date this exhibition is based around works that would have otherwise been shown at Art Basel Hong Kong this month.

Australian artist Lisa Roet presents a new body of work completed especially for her third solo exhibition at Gow Langsford Gallery. These works are based on her visit to the snow monkeys in the hot springs of Japan in 2016.

This new body of work for Gow Langsford Gallery looks at ways of communication and stories of Love. Through her signatory image of the ape bust, Roet expresses moments of communication and emotion as she has witnessed through her research into Primate body and sign language at zoos, ape language research centres and residencies with primatologists worldwide. Made form bronze, carrara marble and gold plated bronze, Roet plays with mediums reminiscent of a decadent past.

The work of Australian artist Lisa Roet focuses on her interest in the relationship between humans and primates. Although based in Melbourne Roet has spent considerable time observing primate behaviours both in their natural environments and in captivity. Her field observations form the basis of her drawings, bronze sculptures, film and photography and the exhibition Lisa Roet at Gow Langsford Gallery, brings together a collection of bronze works and charcoal drawings.

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1967, Lisa Roet graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1987. Roet currently lives and works in Melbourne. Over the past ten years, she has also supplemented her studies with residencies at ape research centres and major international zoos in Berlin and Atlanta, as well as field observation of apes in the forests of Borneo, Malaysia.

Since her first show at Querhause Gallery, Berlin in 1992, Roet has held more than twenty-five solo exhibitions around the world. Particularly acclaimed are Aping, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne and The Depot Gallery, Sydney (2008); Simian Line, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne (2006); Lisa Roet: Finger of Suspicion, McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Melbourne (2004); Pri-Mates, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth (2004); Pri-Mates Drawing, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne (2003); The Shadow, National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2001); Pri-Mates: Hands, LiebmanMagnan Gallery, New York (2000-2001); and Sebrechts-Park, Brugge Kunst Halle, Brussels.

She has also participated in more than fifty group exhibitions including Den Hagg Sculptuur 2007/The Hague Sculpture 2007, The Hague, the Netherlands (2007); Satellite Project (12 Australian Artists), Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China (2006); McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park (2005 and 2003); Kiss of the Beast, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (2005); Instinct, Monash University Museum of Art, Monash University, Melbourne (2004); Nature Machine Exhibition, Queensland Gallery of Art, Brisbane (2004);Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Werribee Park, Victoria (2003); National Works on Paper Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria (2003); National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2003); and Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2001).

Her various awards and achievements include the prestigious McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award (2005); The Kedumba Drawing Award (2005); the National Works on Paper Award (2003); and the National Sculpture Prize (2003). She has also been the recipient of several important grants, including an Asia Link Residency at the National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2000).

Roet has featured in the Australian Art Collector's "Most Collectible Artists" (2001& 2007) and is the subject of an impressive monograph by Alexie Glass, Lisa Roet: Uncommon Observations, Thames & Hudson, Sydney, 2005.

Further reading on Lisa Roet's work:
A Clown and His Chimp by Ashley Crawford in Australian Art Collector (Issue 44, 2008).

Reviews
Listen to Kim Hill and Mary Kissler talk about Lisa Roet's exhibition during White Night. Radio NZ 26.03.2011