John R Neeson

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John R. Neeson’s practice involves site-specific installations of mimetic works. His installations stem from an examination of the still life genre, which prompted Neeson to arrange and document still lifes found in window ledges and blind niches in the streets of Melbourne.

In an attitude related to the dérive and the flȃneur, the artist records found Still Lifes on his smart phone. While these occur outside the traditional exhibition environments, they conform to the conventions of display and social commentary inherent in traditional still lifes. By introducing these images into its canon, Neeson addresses the role of authorship and intent in contemporary art.

This presentation contextualizes Neeson’s current artistic research, which since 1993 has been both venue specific and contained referential installations of mimetic works. By necessity, these projects take place outside the orthodoxy of
the ‘white cube’ in order to include the transition of daylight at the sites in which they are both made and experienced. For Neeson, this liberates representation from a debilitation imposed on it from outside the form. Neeson’s projects initially
grew out of an examination of the Still Life as a marginalised genre.
Over the last five years, Neeson has worked to arrange and document Still Life in the streets and lanes of inner Melbourne using window ledges and blind niches that read as
‘Bodegóns’. In employing an attitude related to the dérive and the flâneur, he has more recently ceased practicing such interventions to simply record foundStill Life on his smartphone. Although this activity takes place outside traditional exhibition environments, Neeson nonetheless conforms to certain conventions of display and social commentary inherent to the Still Life canon—an activity which
in turn addresses the role of authorship and intent within the genre.
John R. Neeson is a current PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania. Previous research
includes PhD, Monash, 2002, Royal College of Art, London- Samstag Scholarship Program 1996/97. Venue specific projects include Conical, WestSpace, Techno Park Studios, Melbourne,
blackartprojects, Melbourne & Milan, AC Institute & Point B New York, Arthouse and GasWorks London, Ar.Co- Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual, Lisbon (and forthcoming in 2015 at The Institut für alles mögliche, Berlin). Curated exhibitions include ‘Objectives‘ TechnoPark Studios. ‘Imaging the Apple’
AC Institute New York, ‘Arrangement - Australian Still life 1973 - 1993’ Heide MoMA.‘Projects One – VCA’ Gallery. Grants and Awards include American Australian Association, Australia
Council, Australian Post Graduate Research Award.