JULIE RRAP
SELECT COMMISSIONS / SITE-SPECIFIC ARTWORKS

Julie Rrap, Standing on my own shoulders (SOMOS), 2024, bronze cast sculpture.

SOMOS (Standing On My Own Shoulders) was commission by the Art Gallery of Western Australia and unveiled at the 17th iteration of Melbourne Art Fair in 2024. SOMOS is a life-size self-portrait in which a cast of the artist's body supports a replica on its shoulders.

The major work responds to the Fair’s artistic program thematic – ketherba / together, “SOMOS (Standing On My Own Shoulders), is a bronze life-size sculptural work that is a dynamic composition in which both casts of my body are caught in a moment of action as one figure appears to support the other on its shoulders. While SOMOS echoes the “heroic” tradition of bronze figurative sculpture, it subverts that history by representing an older female body traditionally rendered invisible. This work strongly consolidates many of the concerns that have preoccupied me in my practice over the last 40 years and to have the opportunity to create SOMOS as a major work for this commission and the Art Gallery of Western Australia is a career highlight and one which will create an incredibly important conversation.” - Julie Rrap

After its unveiling at Melbourne Art Fair 2024, SOMOS was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) for Rrap’s survey titled Past Continuous in 2024. The sculpture then moved to its permanent home in the AGWA collection.

“AGWA is incredibly excited to announce our partnership with the MAF to commission a major new sculptural work by Julie Rrap. Titled SOMOS (Standing On My Own Shoulders) it is literally that, a near life-size self portrait of the artist holding herself aloft. A work Rrap has been planning for many years, we couldn’t be more thrilled that the AGWA/MAF relationship has been able to support her longstanding vision. From her first exhibition in the early 1980s to now Rrap has proved herself to be one of Australian most important artists, known for her consistently compelling exploration of the nexus between gender and power, meaning and materials. Her first major piece in bronze, SOMOS will have a prominent place on AGWA’s rooftop alongside significant collection works including Chris Pease’s 34m long mural.” - Colin Walker, Director/CEO, Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Write me
ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA COMMISSION FOR ADELAIDE BIENNIAL, 2022

Julie Rrap, Write Me, 2021-22, interactive video.

Write Me is an interactive multimedia installation by Julie Rrap that explores communication, identity, freedom and accountability in the digital age. The work presents 26 distorted images of Rrap’s face, each representing a letter of the alphabet, alongside an interactive keyboard through which visitors can type messages to the artist. Their words trigger the faces to distort and flicker, transforming the act of communication into a shared visual experience.

The work was commissioned for the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State by then curator Sebastien Goldspink. Responding to the social and cultural conditions of the COVID-19 period - when physical movement and face-to-face interaction were increasingly replaced by screens - Rrap considers how technology can both constrain and connect us. Write Me invites audiences to reflect on freedom of expression, the responsibilities of communication, and the possibility of connection across physical and digital space.

Fleshstone - Pearl John
MELBOURNE BILLBOARD, 2003

The 2003 Fleshtones installation by Julie Rrap featured manipulated digital imagery, notably her photo-media piece Pearl John, displayed on the Republic Tower billboard in Melbourne. Curated by the Visible Art Foundation, the surreal digital flesh figures juxtaposed against a sandy beach offered a modern reinterpretation of classic Australian photography.

Powerwalker
BRISBANE POWERHOUSE COMMISSION FOR GRAND OPENING, 2000

Julie Rrap, Powerwalker, 2000, aluminium, steel, motor.
Brisbane Powerhouse

Powerwalker is a kinetic art installation by Julie Rrap. Constructed from aluminium, steel, and a motor, this site-specific sculpture was created and permanently installed to mark the grand reopening of the Brisbane Powerhouse as a contemporary arts centre in May 2000.