Exhibitions  /  Aleks Danko, Nigel Lendon
[AS.YET.MAYBE.] NOT A TITLE … in, over, beside, next to, between, in front of, behind, through, by, with, for, up, to, against … are they still touching? …

Feb 5 – 26, 2022 Milani Gallery

Artist Statement

July 2019 was the starting point for this joint project … and it reactivates once again, our friendship and professional practice which began when we met in 1968 as students at the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide … our current endeavour and intention was/is to consider the space(s) of exhibition making and ways in which to intersect our respective art practices … a situation where we could highlight our ongoing interests in key ‘Art Historical Markers’ … our mutual love of the work of Marcel Duchamp, the importance of Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, Fluxus and ‘The Pleasure of the Text’ … so, language, plays a key part in this collaboration … but, moreover, may I suggest that the exhibition has a tendency to reveal a series of conversations that have taken place over the last two years; it is a dialogue made manifest both in concepts and materiality and realised in its ‘object-hood’ … this process had at times been thwarted by the Covid-19 pandemic with its stop-start hurdles that were placed in our way … and then! … in September 2020, Nigel was diagnosed with a brain tumour, located in his right occipital lobe which is responsible for visual perception, including colour, form and motion (this was an ironic and ill-timed twist of fate in the light of his interest in the concept of iconophilia) … this crisis prompted a concerted effort in accelerating and completing works and drew us evermore closer together with the knowledge that his condition was terminal … with this sense of inevitability we continued apace in our discussions, exchanges of artworks, and literature ... and, our spirits were continually buoyed by our constant resort to humour … a sample – Never try to teach a pig to sing; it is a waste of time for you and it annoys the pig as well! (Seth Siegelaub) – no pessimistic outlook here or there … and in spite of the fact Nigel passed away peacefully at home on the 24th October 2021, his presence was, and is, still palpable … it is significant to note, that he continued finishing and detailing his work right till the end; it also has to be said and acknowledged, that his body of work has been brought to Brisbane through the extraordinary resilience and coordination of Nigel’s partner Pamela McGrath, his son Axel Debenham-Lendon and Nigel’s close collaborators/artists Emma Beer and Dan Lorrimer … the exhibition is now made visible! … and so, [AS.YET.MAYBE.] NOT A TITLE welcomes you to view these multifaceted works, and to join us in our conversations and propositions … where …

the present is a good time to present the present … (S.S.)

Aleks Danko 17 January 2022

… plus … ‘our’ collective heartfelt thanks go to Josh Milani for his generous support and understanding in seeing this exhibition come to life.

Exhibition Artworks

Aleks Danko, Nigel Lendon NOT A TITLE (12TH JULY 2019 – 5TH FEBRUARY 2022) – Aleks Danko & Nigel Lendon 2022, A3 digital prints and megaphone on microphone stand, Dimensions variable
Aleks Danko Tribute to Marcel Duchamp 1968, Original etching, signed and dated in pencil by the artist, 61 x 51 cm, Raoul Hausmann with custom frame by Nigel Lendon
Nigel Lendon Raoul Hausmann with custom frame by Nigel Lendon 2020, Digital print, framed, 33.5 x 33.5 cm (print), 50.5 x 50.5 cm (frame)
Aleks Danko STRETCH TILT SHIFT 2021-22, steel frame, epoxy enamel finish, castors, timber, stretched canvas, acrylic paint, chinagraph pencil
Nigel Lendon YES! NO! (2019:3) 2019, Acrylic on canvas, powder-coated steel, 9 canvasses; 46.5 x 46.5 x 5 cm each
Nigel Lendon Scattered Triptych (2020:2) 2020, Pinewood, acrylic paint, Element 2: 44.6 x 8.5 x 8.5 cm
Aleks Danko Scattered Triptych (2020:3) 2020, Pinewood, acrylic paint, 44 x 8 x 8 cm
Aleks Danko krestikinoliki (a phonetic rhyming reduplication; in Russian meaning crosses and zeroes, or noughts and crosses) 2021-22, digital print with galvanized circular tray with acrylic paint screwed to wall, Dimensions variable
Aleks Danko IT’S SUCH A THIN LINE BETWEEN CLEVER AND STUPID - redux mix 2021-22) (selfie portrait no. 1) 2021-22, A2 mirror, sandblast-etched, mirror clips, signed and dated on reverse, edition of 10
Aleks Danko Untitled Triptych (for wall) 1; Untitled Triptych (for wall) 2, Powder-coated steel, 40 x 33.5 x 6.5 x 3.6 cm; 31.5 x 23.5 x 2.6 x 2.6 cm
Aleks Danko MINIMAL MOBILE ERECTION (a Senior’s Moment) 2021, MDF, acrylic paint, steel with hammer finish oil-based paint, steel and rubber castors., Dimensions variable

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