Vee Malnar – Ironic Iconic
IRONIC / ICONIC
By Vee Malnar
Vee Malnar is a multi-media artist, playwright, painter and performer.
Opening Thursday 15 August 6pm. Artists talk Saturday 17 4pm.
Having juggled a busy life of work, mothering and housework, her ideas on canvas portray a snapshot of ordinary domestic life. Kitchen sinks with piled dishes, washing baskets, mops, brooms and vaccum cleaners, all take centre stage and delight the eye with humour, colour and imagination. But there is also a political statement, either subtle or wildly over the top that is integrated into the work.
“I’d rather paint a pile of dirty dishes, than have to wash them,” says Vee.
Housework has the harsh irony that people only notice when you neglect it. It is still not considered “work” to clean the house, and women in opposite-sex marriages continue to provide more care and household duties than men. Women frequently work two jobs: the paid job they go out to accomplish and the unpaid job they undertake at home. Items utilised for our daily chores at home become irrelevant and overlooked because housework is frequently viewed as a tedious chore. Vee challenges our perceptions of our homes by elevating the commonplace and the ordinary above these assumptions of status. In some of the works, she makes references to domestic abuse and the loneliness of being a single mother, highlighting the darker side of domestic life.
www.artwanted.com/veemalnar
https://bluethumb.com.au/veemalnar
https://www.facebook.com/amazingarttherapy
Winner of the Kings Cross Art Prize, 2007 (Tap Gallery), her previous exhibitions include FemaleCentric (Front Gallery, Canberra) 2015 and Woman in a Washbasket (Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra). 2017. The Mother Expectation (M16 Art Gallery, Canberra) 2022.
Publicity
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/act-evolving-role-of-mothers-explored-on-canvas-vee-malnar/101402746
A memorable work entitled KissKross, depicted two entwined lovers in the middle of an intersection, below the Coca Cola sign. And her striking woman with a broom, entitled Sweep, has made front cover of a New York poetry Book called the Mom Egg. (Editor Alana Free)
For more information on Vee’s art go to www.artwanted.com
Since an early age, Vee has painted everything from landscapes to portraits and nudes, as well as attempted the Archibald prize many times. She was commissioned in 2000 to paint a large family portrait, and a few years earlier employed by Port Kembla Steel Works to design and paint their exterior garden pots.
Though not as prolific in the art scene today as she is currently making an episode of ‘Rock Chikz’ (see www.rockchikz.com) and with only a few exhibitions in the last ten years, She has been concentrating on her writing. Her long awaited exhibition & art work however will very soon be on display at TAP Gallery. Dont miss this!
tapgallery.org.au
Youtube: @TapGallerySydney
Instagram: @tapgallery and #tapgallery
Email: info@tapgallery.org.au * Telephone: 0400610440 .
Vee Malnar – Ironic Iconic
