revolution | Jonathan Jones
revolution
2 March - 10 April 2010
Jonathan Jones’ exhibition revolution, introduces new fluoro works that pull traditional Koori line marking into three dimensions and graphite works that resonate with the crystalline structures of salt from as far afield as the Murray River and the beaches of Gandhi’s Gujarat.
This installation reflects on the idea of cultural revolution within the Australian landscape by drawing on parallels found within India’s fight for independence, led by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi famously led the passive resistance movement and in 1930 undertook his famous Salt March from Ahmedabad to Dandi, where he protested against the British-imposed Salt Tax, “the condiment of the common man”. This foundational act of Independence was driven by salt, a base material, the same material that today is encrusting the Australian environment from years of colonial farming practices. These two moments in history are cantilevered against each other in the structure of the light sculptures to create one narrative. The dense graphite drawings are detailed surveys of salt crystals, and their structure, collected in both India, at Dandi, and in Australian, from the Murray River.