Would that we could sometimes borrow tepid hearts of lovers leftto face the ashes wrought by sorrowchasing those with hearts bereft the ones we sought when fires blazedwho drew us madly ever forwardthought naught of burning homes now razedpassion scalds its own reward The gentle comfort we now seekbelonged to those left long behindmortified we dareContinue reading “The Restless Souls are Least Equipped”
Category Archives: Suburban Gothic
The First Supper
The First Supper There was breadand there was wine,but there was no betrayalat the first supper. The bodythat would be torn, pierced, blood and watergushing forthbelonged to the motherbefore the son. Birth and deathdance closer than most men know.Did Mary feel forsaken too? Precious Josepha midwife bearing witnessto the mess and the mysteryL’Origine du mondeinContinue reading “The First Supper”
Our Earliest Imaginings
Our formative years soak into our bones; and we carry narratives about our past that help us make meaning in the present. The stories we tell ourselves are, by nature, subjective and powerful. What are your earliest memories of the arts? Did you grow up actively immersed in arts, or did they seep in organically?Continue reading “Our Earliest Imaginings”
The Archibald Prize Finalists 2022
The 52 finalists of Australia’s almost always controversial annual Archibald Prize for portraiture have been announced. I’ve posted a few that intrigue me below – you can see who else made the cut on the Gallery of New South Wales website HERE. If you get the chance, you should most definitely check out the ArchiContinue reading “The Archibald Prize Finalists 2022”
Event : Suburban Gothic and the Sublime Divine
ART EXHIBITION AND FLOOR TALK A presentation by Tanja Stark for the Queensland Jung Society Thursday, December 2, 2021 7.30pm – 9.30pmVenue: St Mary’s Anglican Church Hall455 Main St. Kangaroo Point, QLD 4169“Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.” — C. G. Jung https://jungqld.com/events/dec-2021/tanja-stark/suburban-gothic-and-the-sublime-divine/ Artist Tanja Stark will hostContinue reading “Event : Suburban Gothic and the Sublime Divine”
Exhibition 27 March 2021 – Artisan Jewellery
Once again I’m excited to be joining John Carozza’s Exhibition ‘Deepstaria’ as a guest artist at Gallery 61, Musk Avenue Kelvin Grove in 2021. John’s evocative paintings conjure the mysterious ocean depths that contain the breathtakingly magical Deepstaria jellyfish, from where the title of his exhibition is drawn. This year in a departure from sculpture, IContinue reading “Exhibition 27 March 2021 – Artisan Jewellery”
Exhibitions : Artists : Galleries : Writers
An eclectic list of galleries, patrons and collaborators who I’ve exhibited with or have inspired me. John Carozza : Australian painter I want people to ask themselves, “what does it feel like?” rather than “what does it mean?” Cairns Regional Art Gallery The Cairns Art Gallery shows art of national and international significance and enables crossContinue reading “Exhibitions : Artists : Galleries : Writers”
Judging a book by its cover.
Routledge’s new paperback edition of David Bowie : Critical Perspectives, (with my chapter on Jung) with a brand new cover of my Bowie Russian Nesting Dolls.
Sweet.
Dostoyevsky and the Epileptic Prince
Prince, the artist and musician had the Sacred Disease as a child. So too did Dostoyevsky and his character the Prince in his classic novel The Idiot. When the young (purple) Prince was Seven he told his mother that he had been visited by an Angel and he had been cured of his seizures. “I’veContinue reading “Dostoyevsky and the Epileptic Prince”
Burn
Burn – a series of work 1999 – 2002 Burn explores the physical and metaphorical nature of pain and scarring in images created by branding, burning and marking of surfaces with heat, fire or charcoal. Pared back to its essential elements the gentle simplicity of the images belies the inherently complex content. Comprised of worksContinue reading “Burn”
“Eagles in my Daydreams, Diamonds in my Eyes”: Bowie, Blackstar & the Bataclan
At the time of the Bataclan slaying the Blackstar symbol, seen on Bowie’s ‘holy’ book was everywhere. Most curiously, it showed up on the hand of the Josh Homme, playing drums years earlier in the film clip for Speaking in Tongues. That song came to lead singer Jessie Hughes in a dream, he claimed. Fully formed. Blackstar was yet to be released. The Blind Seer wanted Eagles in his Daydreams, Diamonds in his eyes. He got his wish.
Curious Synchronicity. Lightning Strikes the Vatican and Mecca.
In my art, I work a lot with ideas around copper and electricity, current, seizures, fire and charge. I always found this curious timing.
Heavens, Heathens and the Blind Seers
Perhaps somewhere in the liminal spaces between Word on a Wing, Loving the Alien, Bowie’s Lets Dance film clip shot in Aboriginal Australia and Heathen lies Gurrumul, the Blind Seer.
“Crashing Out with Sylvian : David Bowie, Carl Jung and the Unconscious” by Tanja Stark
Artist Tanja Stark explores the Jungian concepts woven throughout Bowie’s tableau of creativity and his synthesis of mythopoeic themes with the zeitgeist of pop culture. Together with a palpable struggle for meaning, catharsis and knowledge, Stark suggests Bowie is a poignant representation of Jung’s ‘visionary artist’, potentially illuminating his deep resonance in popular cultural consciousness.
Confronting Bowie’s Mysterious Corpses
“Confront a corpse at least once” Bowie implored, “…the absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have” (Esquire 2004). His words accompanied a haunting photographic recreation by Steven Klein of Michelangelo’s Pieta in a prison cell, a strange androgynous figure draped like the lifeless body of Christ across Bowie’s lapContinue reading “Confronting Bowie’s Mysterious Corpses”