RICHARD ORJIS
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Transcript of RICHARD ORJIS
Milford Galleries Dunedin18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 [email protected]
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
Richard OrjisParis is Burning15 September - 10 October 2012
1. parisisburning (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
2. thecircularnatureofthings (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
3. inthatinstantwewerealive (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
4. fallingdiamonds (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
5. drippingingold (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
6. the-letter-i-never-wrote-you (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
7. stilltheskyisblue (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
8. impossibleprincess (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
9. Marie (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
10. deafsymphony (2012), unique photographic print, frame: 946 x 646 x 60 mm
Combining traditional photographic imagery with digital collages, the works in
Richard Orjis’ Paris is Burning subvert any expectations of a singular visual text. Orjis
manipulates black and white photographs taken or found while on residency in
France, and finally adds an overlay of predominantly bejewelled images from the
pages of glossy auction house catalogues.
Marie, with its Daliesque overtones, examines the social divisions (and delusions) in
existence today, alluding as it does to that most well-known French figure of excess,
Marie Antoinette. Her re-creation of Arcadian ‘country scenes’ on the grounds of
Versailles, is well documented, and could not have been further from the dirty
poverty of the French peasantry. Orjis presents his country farmhouse complete with
weeds in the thatch and decay on the walls, and the sapphire eyes confront the
viewer directly with a simultaneous vision of “decadence and de cay.”(1)
The glittering facets and heightened colours of the gold and crystalline objects
catch the eye at first, only later does the gaze take in the tonal contrast of the black
and white photography. Divorced from its commercial context and the bodies it is
meant to adorn, the jewellery trumpets a blatant message of conspicuous
consumption and excess, especially noticeable against Orjis’ deserted farm and
fields. Orjis’ ironic take on consumption devoid of necessity and consumption
necessary for life is clearly seen in impossibleprincess: the ruby lips and pearly teeth
cannot eat, they exist to be consumed, as do the rows of vegetables behind them.
Two works remain free from precious metals and stones: deafsymphony and
inthatinstantwewerealive are studies of form, light and shadow. Orjis isolates
sculptural details and by doing so gives them a life separated from their original
context; they become organic forms twisting in space rather than mere architectural
flourishes from a larger work.
Orjis extends his manipulation of context away from the purely physical images he
has produced, as most of the titles of his works lead to random Tumblr sites.
Tumblr.com is a micro-blogging site that allows individuals to post images, videos and
links in a scrapbook format; these can be accessed by others who may share
content, ask questions, and place comments on the page.
All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition
Viewing Orjis’ artworks through this multimedia overlay allows the viewer to re-
contextualise them completely. The parallels between these ‘borrowed’ images and
Orjis’ physical use of found imagery reinforces an idea of inter-connectivity. By
choosing to activate the Tumblr links (eg: deafsymphony.tumblr.com), the viewer
becomes complicit in the creation of the artwork as it is recreated each time they
do so, as the site they find may have changed, or disappeared entirely.
1. Richard Orjis, Artist’s Statement, August, 2012
E X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S T
1 parisisburning (2012) 3,500
2 thecircularnatureofthings (2012) 3,500
3 inthatinstantwewerealive (2012) 3,500
4 fallingdiamonds (2012) 3,500
5 drippingingold (2012) 3,500
6 the-letter-i-never-wrote-you (2012) 3,500
7 stilltheskyisblue (2012) 3,500
8 impossibleprincess (2012) 3,500
9 Marie (2012) 3,500
10 deafsymphony (2012) 3,500
Richard Orjis 2012 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 1
RICHARD ORJIS B. 1979, lives Auckland
Hope It's Not Too Late (2010)
"Orjis is the artist as pop philosopher, interested in blurring artistic genres and aesthetic categories." (1)
“His work is designed to illustrate non-existent, shadowy social groups. In his own words: "I create
ritualistic or cult-like imagery that deals with the conflict between humans and nature, nature being
defined as environments, both physical and psychological, that are not created or controlled by
humans. While natural landscapes can be sublime in their beauty, they are also places that can be
dangerous, hostile and destructive. Furthermore, the night offers an historical stage for rituals to take
place, as the blackness gives a sense of mystery and ambiguity that is consistent throughout my
work.” (2)
“I can see that it might seem like I’m working with lots of different things, but everything I do comes
from the same place and is normally about the same concerns. For me, the work revolves around four
main intersecting and fluid connections, that of nature, cult, myth and the gothic. Nature can be
seen as beautiful and pure, and intrinsically good, but also as dangerous and destructive, a spectacle
of the devourers and the devoured. This tense relationship of attraction and repulsion feeds into my
practice. I explore notions of beauty laced with an undercurrent of ugliness, or vice versa.” (3)
“My work sits itself within the framework of the gothic. Just as society seeks to sanitize nature, many
human emotions are repressed in the on going process of civilisation. The gothic sensibility explores this
dark underbelly, seeking to access the sublime through dark beauty, melancholy, lust, death fear and
violence.
I seek to connect contemporary culture with antiquity, the gothic psych surfaces in many different
forms in art and culture throughout history. The gothic is present in contemporary culture in the form of
heavy metal music, video games, horror and science fiction movies.” (4)
Richard Orjis was born in Whanganui in 1979, and lives and works in Auckland. He is a multimedia artist,
utilising photography, paint, sculpture and performance. Orjis completed his Master of Fine Arts at
Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 2006 having previously earned a BVA in 2001 at
Auckland University of Technology. He has exhibited extensively, including exhibitions in New York,
Basel, Miami, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Auckland.
1. David Eggleton, 'Dangerous Eye Candy', NZ Listener, 2010
2. Warwick Brown, 'Seen This Century', Godwit, 2009
3. Jason Lingard, ‘Richard Orjis’, None Magazine, 2007
4. Ibid
Richard Orjis 2012 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 2
RICHARD ORJIS B. 1979, lives Auckland
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts, Elam, The University of Auckland, 2006
Bachelor of Visual Arts, AUT, Auckland, 2001
Certificate in Art & Design, AUT, Auckland, 1998
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012 Paris is Burning, Milford Galleries Dunedin
By Quiet Volcanoes, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland
Small Histories, Art Station, Auckland
Follow You, Follow You, Snake Pit, Auckland
2011 Fields, McNamara Gallery, Whanganui
2010 A Garden, Milford Galleries Dunedin
Grass Circle, Te Tuhi Center for the Arts, Auckland
Silver Park, HSP, Christchurch
Park, Public Art Lightbox Installation, Bledisloe Walkway, Auckland City
2009 Richard Orjis, Starkwhite Gallery, Auckland
2008 little black flower grow, in the sky, Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain
YES, Te Tuhi Centre for Arts, Auckland,
Richard Orjis, Starkwhite, Auckland
Landslide, McNamara Gallery, Whanganui
Welcome to the Jungle, The Physic Room, Christchurch
2007 My Empire of Dirt: Selected works on paper, Roger Williams Contemporary, Auckland,
2006 Dep_art_ment, Auckland
2005 Dep_art_ment, Auckland
2004 Richard Orjis, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain
Richard Orjis, Galeria Llucia Homs, Barcelona, Spain
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Small Works, milford galleries queenstown
The Earl Street Journal (2011-2012), milford galleries queenstown
Follow You, Follow You, Snake Pit, Auckland
2011 Material Motives, Milford Galleries Dunedin
Animal Aesthetics, The Papakura Art Gallery, Auckland
In Another Universe, The University of Waikato, Hamilton
2010 The Marvelous, Bartley & Company, Wellington
MADRIDFOTO, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Palacio de Deportes de la Comunicad, Madrid, Spain
PUTIPUTI: The flower in Contemporary Art, Hasting City Art Gallery, Hastings
Floriferous, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui
2009 The Enchanted Garden, Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki
Recent: Ten Contemporary NZ Photographers, Tauranga Art Gallery
Animal Farm: 4 Legs Good, Sargeant Gallery, Whanganui
Flora: Growth Between Neighbours, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Seen this Century, Judith Anderson Gallery, Hastings
2008 The Maui Destiny, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson
2007 Vice, Luis Adelantado, Miami, USA
Picnics and Revolutions, Roger Williams Contemporary, Auckland
Richard Orjis / Todd Stratton, Roger Williams Contemporary, Auckland
Art is 4 Lovers, Butterfly Net, Auckland
Jewellery out of Context: an exhibition of New Zealand artists / curated by Dr Carole Sheperd
and Peer Deckers, Object Space, Auckland
Fat of the Land, Creative New Zealand, Auckland
Asian at the Wheel, Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, Auckland
Richard Orjis 2012 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 3
2006 The New Situationists, City Gallery, Wellington
The New Situationists, Canary Gallery, Auckland
The Orchid Show, Mount Street, Auckland
Arquivar Tormentas, Centro Galego De Arte Contemporanea, Santiago, Spain
Summer Exhibition, Roger Williams Contemporary, Auckland
2005 Me, Me, Me, Room 103, Auckland
Bring Your Caddy, Stanbeth House, Auckland
2003 In Faccia Al Mondo ‘Contemporary Portraits in Photography’, The Museum of Contemporary
Art of Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
Angst, RARE, New York, USA
Group Show, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain
COLLECTIONS
The Real Arts Road Show
The Jenny Gibbs Collection, Auckland
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, Madrid, Spain
The Film Archive, Wellington
The University of Auckland Collection, Auckland
Wallace Trust Collection, Auckland
BIBLIOGRAPHY 2012 Brown, David Lyndon, Beautiful Scary: The Totemic Art of Richard Orjis, Art New Zealand,
Number 142/Winter 2012, p56-59
2010 Eggleton, David, Poisonous Eye Candy, NZ Listener, September 18th, 2010
2009 Brown, Warwick, Seen This Century: 100 Contemporary New Zealand Artists, Godwit, Random
House, 2009, p304–307
Real Art Trust Staff, Real Art Roadshow: The Book, Real Art Charitable Trust, 2009, p162–163
Serrat, Carlos, Contemporary Paganism, The Creator Studio, # 11 Rituals, April 2008, p4–13
2008 Orjis, Richard Coal Choir, No Magazine, Issue 2 2008, p61–69
McNaughton, Harry, Richard Orjis, No. Magazine, Issue 1, March 2008, p18–19
Pickens, Robyn, Expressions of Contradictions, The Press, Christchurch, Wednesday, April 16,
2008, pD5
2007 Battersby, Shandelle, Richard Orjis, Artists and Mud Fan, Time Out, The New Zealand Herald,
May 17–23, 2007, p5
Chang, Lulu, The Garden of Unearthly Delight, Soma, Volume 21.4, May/June 2007, p30
Coney, Hamish, Future Schlock: An old fogey looks at the work of today’s yoof, Ideolog, #7,
January – February 2007, p95
Hall, Oliver, International Achiever, Express, 25 April – 1 May 2007, p10–11
Hamilton, Summer, Auckland Art Fair 07, KiaOra, May 2007, p72
Laird, Tessa, Secrets of the Soil: Richard Orjis and his Empire of Dirt, White Fungus, Issue 8, 2007,
p34–41
Lingard, Jason, Richard Orjis, Nothing Magazine, Issue 11 2007
Mudie, Ella, The Dark side: Richard Orjis, Dazed and Confused Aus/NZ, Volume 1 Issue 3 2007,
p137
2006 Orjis, Richard, Momento Mori, New Zealand Home & Entertaining, April/May 2006, p 62–69
2005 Williams, Melinda, Hip to be Square, Sunday Life and View, Herald on Sunday, April 3–9, 2005,
p6–8
2004 Capdevilla, Marta, Up-State, Suite, 29, October 2004, p64
Mogutin, Slava, Anthony et Richard, TETU, No 88, April 2004, p34-35
Tabron, Delaney, Richard Orjis, Pavement, Summer 2004/2005, Issue 66, p43
Ventur, Conrad, NYC Photographers, Useless Magazine, Vol 1 No 1, Fall/Winter 2004, p46
2003 Arevalo, Pilar, Narcissist, Artist or just Taking the Piss?, Oyster, Issue 43, December/January 2003,
pp48–51
Northcross, Wayne, Razzle-Basel, Instinct, Vol 6 Issue 2, February 2003, p16
Suau, Christina, Richard Orjis, ELLE, Spain, No. 197, February, 2003, p72
Olveira, Manuel, A Story with a viewpoint, Arquivar Tormentas, Centro Galego De Arte
Contemporanea, Santiago, Spain, pp27–31