Packing a considerable punch in Gallery 2 is the work of Joel
Gailer. Playful, bold and witty, Joel’s work celebrates language and the
techniques of printmaking. There’s a duality at the heart of printmaking, the
transference of one image - carved, scratched or etched - onto another surface.
Repetition, reversal and relationship sit at the foundation of that process and
this is where Joel is at home, elbow deep in the exploration of these
principles, through the prism of contemporary concerns about sex, masculinity
and the object’s role as a form of language itself.
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KENT: Hi Joel. The title of your exhibition, 'I'm
your distant cousin', has a sort of humourous edge to it. Obviously it's not
possible that you are the distant cousin of everyone who comes to the show, but
then again, maybe in a way, we are all distant cousins. What role does humour
play in your artwork?
JOEL: Humour is very important, I like to infuse printmaking ideas and
references with a type of popular vernacular. Between you and me, 2011,
for instance, is both a comment on printmaking and a slightly insidious
statement. The work itself is a diptych, one side is a wood block print and the
other is a digital print of the same text reversed. It is intended to be a type
of discussion between an archaic printmaking technique (woodblock) and its
updated cousin, the digital print. Without this knowledge the statement is
open-ended and could be slightly sexual or a reference to mateship. But
ultimately it’s all about printmaking.
KENT:
That comes through a lot in your work I think - that revelling in the joy of
printmaking. It's especially heightened I think when it comes to the
object-oriented processes. Your table, your thongs and your tyres all empower
the object as a sort of writer of text in the world. What led you to utilising
objects in this way?
JOEL: I like
to think that the object, process, or medium has a type of meaning. I believe
everything has an inherent meaning that is interpreted by the viewer
intrinsically. I like to play in this space.
KENT:
Your text based works have very punchy phrases, with twists of spelling and
declarations. Does reading and literature play an important role in your life?
Or are these aspects more reflective of pop-cultural texts, like signage,
facebook updates and advertising slogans?
JOEL: Art
history and philosophy play a major role in my life but when it comes to my
work, yes, I’m trying to make references to popular culture. This is the
starting point to understanding my art, but if you go deeper the art and
historical references reveal themselves.
KENT:
Now, aside from the creation of your own art you run a space in Melbourne and
you teach as well. What's the driving force behind these endeavours for you,
and how do you find the balancing act with all that?
JOEL: I hold several positions in the
Melbourne art world: Registrar for Niagara Galleries, Lecturer in printmedia
RMIT, Curator for Dark Horse Experiment and I have just begun my PhD. These
roles have a huge influence on my work and I see them as a type of condensed
research - I am able draw from the ideas and images that surround me. How do
juggle it all?? That’s a good question - time travel?
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