JOHN McDONALD on JULIE RRAP at the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

John McDonald published a perceptive review in the Sydney Morning Herald today, writing on Sebastian Goldspink's "pioneering" curation of the current Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at AGSA, which includes a focus on JULIE RRAP. Importantly McDonald pays homage to the late, great artist Hossein Valamanesh and visionary philanthropist Neil Balnaves, who are both dearly missed by friends and colleagues in Australia and abroad.

McDonald concludes with glowing praise of JULIE RRAP's installation, writing,

Julie Rrap, now one of the elders in this group, takes a more direct approach, with a multi-channel video installation called Write Me (2021-22), which features 26 images of her own face, laid out like the letters on a keyboard ... One can only admire Rrap’s bravery in creating so many self-portraits in which she has added years and wrinkles to her own face. It’s simultaneously an embrace and a defiance of the ageing process. In the context of this Biennial, in which the older artists seem to have produced the best, most coherent work, it’s also a testament to the value of experience.

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