Australia’s modernists occupy a special place in the oeuvre of our cultural history, and the mythology of those bohemian artists lives are especially rich in the exhibitions held at Heide Museum of Modern Art. Now, in a long overdue survey show, one of the central figures of the revolutionary Heide set, Joy Hester, gets a solo exhibition.
In the melancholically-titled Joy Hester: Remember Me, 144 pieces have been gathered from private and public collections to showcase the spectrum of the artist’s avant garde work. Using the intensity of brush and ink drawings to delve into the body and psyche of the human form, Joy broke free from traditional artistic methods and teachings, establishing herself as unique even among the radicals she worked alongside.
From inside the male-dominated modernist movement, Joy’s determination to experiment with diverse and evolving styles brought important female perspectives to subjects like sex, love, death, psychology and birth, to the austerity of war and human intimacy.
Joy Hester: Remember Me was due to be exhibited from late March to celebrate a century since the artist’s birth. Due to public safety circumstances, Heide will be closed until further notice so together with SIRAP, the gallery has produced a virtual walkthrough of the exhibition! Walk the same grounds Joy Hester did and revel in her art in the video above.
Purchase the Joy Hester: Remember Me catalogue here.
