Exhibition
Graham Miller: Playing the Man
Bunbury Regional Art Gallery
June 11 to August 14
About this exhibition
Childhood memories are the trigger for Graham Miller’s photographic series Playing the Man.
The playful and humorous images are a celebration of football and a nostalgic look at the past. Referencing Scanlens bubble-gum football cards from the 1970s and 80s, as well as press images from the era, Miller recreates himself as boyhood football heroes to explore issues of masculinity, identity, and cultural difference. Compared to today’s highly stylised and groomed celebrities on Instagram and social media, football luminaries on cards from this period are refreshingly unmanicured. Larrikin grins, dishevelled hair, hammed up poses and indifferent photography coalesce into comical portraits which defy the revered status with which these players were held. Hard men look surprisingly soft.
Miller emphasizes the absurdity through the use of masquerade, using it as a strategy to question ingrained ideals of Australian masculinity and to comment on the difficulties of conforming to traditional notions of Australianness growing up as a person of mixed heritage.
Visit the Playing the Man website here
Image Credit: Graham Miller, Playing the Man, Installation view, Turner Galleries, September 2019. Courtesy the artist.
Act-Belong-Commit | Playing the Man by Graham Miller
Footage courtesy of Peacock Visuals
ART ON THE MOVE is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
The Act-Belong-Commit Engagement Program presented by ART ON THE MOVE is funded by Healthway promoting the Act-Belong-Commit message.
Venue
Bunbury Regional Art Gallery
Address
64 Wittenoom Street, Bunbury WA 6230
ARTISTS
Graham Miller (WA)
MEDIUMS
Installation, photographic print
INSTALLATION
Approx. 20 running meters
ACT-BELONG-COMMIT ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
Act-Belong-Commit Artist on the Move in schools and galleries
Act-Belong-Commit ARTBUS
Act-Belong-Commit Learning Resource (includes activities, ideas and background)
Act-Belong-Commit Public programs
MARKETING
Marketing Kit (includes e-invitation template, artwork for hard copy invitation, media release, promotional images, logos and acknowledgements)
INTERPRETATION MATERIALS
Exhibition and sponsorship panels
Artwork labels
Exhibition brochures (free for distribution)
TOUR DURATION
March 2021 – August 2022. Available WA and interstate.
Cost Share
ART ON THE MOVE Members: $4,000 (inc. GST)
Non-Members: $4,500 (inc. GST)
Interstate Venues: Contact to discuss.
Crates
2021
- January 17 - February 14
- Beach Street Gallery
- May 15 - June 19
- Goldfields Art Centre
- August 14 - September 19
- Geraldton Regional Art Gallery
- September 24, 2021 - January 28, 2022
- Ningaloo Centre
2022
- June 11 - August 14
- Bunbury Regional Art Gallery
- August 22 - September 17
- Katanning Art Gallery