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Melbourne artist James Dodd creates both unsolicited work in the public domain and saleable, large-scale stencil paintings. His playful pop-referential work disrupts corporate media and institutional art-world politics with critically cool ease.
The images conjured for Something Metal Inside of Me are dark and strange. They are portraits of men with long hair and pouting lips, suspended in darkness and flaunting their mix of macho with sensuous glamour. The tightness of their pants is testified via staunch poses, proclamations of their ability to scream alongside racing guitar solos in deafening displays of falsetto.
"Half of a bat, recently living, laying on the stage, whilst the other half spills out of my idol's mouth...
A somewhat notorious legend but thoroughly rock and roll and, definitely, metal. Images of heavy metal heroes with their long hair and tight pants constituted the wallpaper of my bedroom for many years. As a half-boy, half -man it was these glamorous half-men, half-women who were once my role models.
Black images of half-reality, half-fantasy, half-whole, half-decayed, half-life and half-death continue to intrigue me as an artist."
James Dodd, 2005
"Celebrity, advertising, and other images of dominant ideology regularly figure in Dodd's practice. Much of his interest lies in the ability for contemporary icons to control our subconscious perceptions, our desires, and the way we assess the value of one image against another."
Dodd's recent muses have been the more sinister characters of Australian subcultures and folklore.
The portraits for Something Metal Inside of Me are made via a stencil process, which Dodd has been exploring for more than five years. There is a developing sense of deterioration which is reflective of the subjects' position in popular culture.
Dodd uses simple yet powerful imagery to convey the social politics of his urban environment. His art is seen in many forms; stencil art, street art, sculpture or installations. His large wall paintings, colourful billboard collages and politically charged portraits speak testament to his representative flexibility, biting sense of humour and commitment to politicise culture.
In a short period, Dodd has gained a profile as a young artist not to be trifled with. Humble as he may appear, Dodd is prolific and passionate.
James is a committed artist and has been selected to participate in over 10 curated exhibitions throughout Australia in the past 15 months. In 2003, James won the Pat Corrigan Arts Grant and also a 3 month residency at the Gunnery in Sydney. His work has featured in Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art's prestigious Primavera 2002 and 2004 exhibitions and in the recent Ballarat Fine Art Gallery exhibition, 'Eureka Revisited: The Contest of Memories'. James was seen interviewed in RASH: a documentary film on graffiti art in Melbourne, released at the July 2005 Melbourne Film Festival.
Don't miss out on this exciting and talented young artist's first solo show at Helen Gory Galerie.
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