The same but different

As we’ve said before on OTN, multiples offer a great way to buy art at reasonable prices and still get major pieces. Many artists like the way multiples give a wider range of people the opportunity to own and live with their work.

On Saturday in Sydney we went to one of multiple exhibitions of multiples. We had already been to Michael Stevenson’s show at the Hamish McKay Gallery and were intrigued to see what he would turn up with at the Darren Knight Gallery. The word multiple should have given the game away. It was practically the same show. As we might have expected, however, Stevenson had thrown multiplicity in the air and some of the pieces came down to earth as unique works. For instance, Bowl made from remnants of Stevenson’s version of Australian artist Ian Fairweather’s raft (yes, there was more than one replica raft constructed) was slightly different and on different issues of The National Geographic Magazine in the Knight show compared to the McKay version. The McKay exhibition also had Lance, the replica of a burnt tent pole that, simply by the way it is made will be different from the rest of the edition, and the Knight exhibition screened a copy of Introduccion a la Teoria de la Probabilidad. When you add the stories behind the works and the stories involved in their creation, the venture is enough to make your head spin. One good thing about having your head turned is that you do get to see new angles and new connections.
Image: Left Bowl at Darren Knight. Right, Bowl at Hamish McKay