JULIE RRAP
COMMISSIONS / SITE-SPECIFIC ARTWORKS
STANDING ON MY OWN SHOULDERS (SOMOS)
2024
Melbourne Art Fair, Victoria | Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney | Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
JULIE RRAP AWARDED MAJOR 2024 MELBOURNE ART FOUNDATION COMMISSION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ART GALLERY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SOMOS (Standing On My Own Shoulders) is the 10th commission of the program and was unveiled at the 17th iteration of Melbourne Art Fair.
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,” said Julie Rrap. “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.”
After its unveiling at Melbourne Art Fair 2024, SOMOS will head to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) for Rrap’s exhibition titled Past Continuous opening June 2024. It will then move to its permanent home in the AGWA collection.
Colin Walker, Director/CEO, Art Gallery of Western Australia said: “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.”