Arthur Wicks
Premonitions of the Disposable Body
6 May - 7 June 2025
Mixed media (glued paper) clay, acrylic on Hahnemühle 350gsm paper 78.5 x 106.5 cm $2,200
Mixed media (glued paper) acrylic on Hahnemühle 350gsm paper 78.5 x 106.5 cm $2,200
Acrylic, sand, twine on Hahnemüle paper 107 x 78 cm $2,200
Mixed media (glued paper) clay, acrylic on Hahnemühle 350gsm paper 78.5 x 106.5 cm $2,200
Fields of Change – Premonitions of the Disposable Body
In 1989 an exhibition of works on paper and wooden sculptures toured Eastern Australia as Transformer – Fields of Change. The collection of 12 works on view in this show contains many of those works on paper together with several that were started at that time but only recently developed and completed.
Shortly before his death, David Hanson sent me a postcard saying he was happy to hear that the armoured car was now, at his suggestion, in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. He urged me to propagate the work that I had been doing with robotics and body substitutes. "Wicks, push that barrow". He recognised in this oeuvre a germinal stage of interest in Artificial Intelligence; identified by him even 40 years ago.
In this exhibition, Tent and Compass, Rooftop Berlin 1986, provides a link to a satellite exhibition at the Slot Gallery Window, 38 Botany Rd Alexandria, where Notes from the Solstice Voyeur series is on view.
Many of the works on paper are constructed collages and relate directly to sculptures from Transformers: Fields of Change and can be viewed in tandem by clicking on this URL link:
https://www.arthurwicks.com/Sculpture/Transformers%203D.html
David Hansen’s Essay on Three Legs was published in the booklet accompanying Transformer – Fields of Change and is quoted in full below. It seems as relevant today as it did then.