AUSSIE CULTURE REFLECTED BY BEER CAN ART

The ability of beer cans to “traverse the divide between high and low culture” lead contemporary artist Waratah Lahy to choose the iconic “tinny” as the primary material for her latest exhibition, Crowd, at the ANU School of Art.

Lahy used beer cans not only because they reflect popular Australian culture, but also because, through her work, they are transformed from “throwaway rubbish into replica precious material”.

Lahy has created two groups of paintings for the exhibition, Beer Blokes and State Funeral, which both examine “Australianness” in different ways.

Based on photographs taken at country agricultural shows, Beer Blokes is a reflection of the perception of a how a “real Aussie bloke” looks.

Lahy has exaggerated these assumptions by creating beer can silhouettes of the way the men are unselfconsciously standing, sitting and conversing.

“The partially recognisable labels of the beer cans introduces another layer to the stereotype, which I then attempt to subvert by painting their likenesses back in as lyrically and gently as possible,” Lahy says.

“Restoring an identity to an otherwise anonymous shape serves to transcend the initial stereotype, as well as personalising the subject.”

State Funeral is a small series of paintings created in response to an “event of national significance” – the funeral of the last ANZAC, Alec Campbell.

Once again, Lahy has used the shiny, metallic surface of beer cans to enhance the iconic nature of the images.

She has chosen small, solemn moments to reflect the mood of the occasion, but also to slow down the sense of time. Severe cropping accentuates this, as well as “enhancing the feeling of looking out from the crowd”.

WHAT: Crowd, by Waratah Lahy

WHEN: Wednesday, 23 July until Sunday, 3 August. Official opening 6pm, Thursday 24 July

WHERE: ANU School of Art foyer, Ellery Crescent, ANU. The School of Art is open Wednesday to Friday, 10:30am-5pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 12pm-5pm

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