Conflations between authenticity, mimicry, natural, man-made, historical and anachronistic are important to the work. To this end, Lim finds inspiration in sites and objects that are both ‘contemporary’ and ‘out of time’, embodied and virtual. Model homes, suburban sprawl, CCTV, online chat rooms, fake food, historical parks and the Australian landscape have all featured in the work. Counterpoint to these sites, Lim has performed the identities of Japanese hikikomori; a Bowie-eyed rock star; the cannibal Issei Sagawa; a suburban beautician; Miranda from Picnic at Hanging Rock and currently, a gold Mao-suited ‘Ambassador’. This dialogue between place and performance reflects the push-pull between Australian and Asian, the mono and the multicultural. Lim’s work has been exhibited, performed and screened locally and internationally at venues, festivals and fairs that include: Tate Modern, ACCA, GOMA, ACMI, HUN Gallery NY, Next Wave, FACT Liverpool, 24HR Art (Darwin), Substation (Singapore), Schoolhouse Studios, Experimenta, Sydney Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney), Melbourne Festival, ACAF (Shanghai), TINA, Dark MOFO, Bus Projects, West Space and MPavilion. Collaboration, artistic community and the intersection between art and society informs her practice: in addition to her solo work, she co-directed the inaugural Channels Festival, was the founding editor of Assemble Papers and co-founded Tape Projects. Lim is the co-writer and host of Video Becomes Us, an artist-made ABC iView series on video art. She is a tutor at the Victorian College of the Arts and is the co-director (with Mish Grigor and Lara Thoms) of APHIDS, a 25-year-old experimental artistic company based in Melbourne.
EUGENIA SELECTED FOR IAS BEIJING
5–8 Sept 2019
Thanks to Australia Council for the Arts and IAS, Eugenia will travel to Beijing for the the fourth edition of Independent Arts Spaces Festival. Initiated by i: project space, IAS is a semi-annual series of exhibitions, events and workshops in Beijing’s artist-run, non-commercial spaces and hutongs, connecting local and invited international guests to share knowledge and provocations. As an artist-curator, Eugenia will represent APHIDS and the Australian experimental art scene, alongside West Space’s Amelia Wallin and Liquid Architecture’s Georgia Hutchison.
For more information, visit iasbeijing.org
BALLARAT FOTO BIENNIAL
24 Aug – 27 Oct 2019
Art Gallery of Ballarat
40 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat VIC 3350
Yellow Peril explores the historical and ongoing impact and influence of mining and immigration on the Australian identity. Comprising video (filmed on location at Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill, a fictional gold rush ‘town’), screen-printed mylar blankets and sculpture, an archival image of the artist’s parents posed in front of Ron Robertson-Swann’s infamous public artwork Vault (1980), aka ‘Yellow Peril’, is the starting point for Eugenia Lim’s performative and playful exploration of the Chinese presence in Australia.
For more information, visit artgalleryofballarat.com.au
OK DEMOCRACY, WE NEED TO TALK
18 May – 31 July 2019
Campbelltown Arts Centre
1 Art Gallery Rd, Campbelltown, NSW 2560
The dissemination of information has never been easier. The ability to speak and to be heard is increasing with the evolution of technologies and alternative information platforms that are in consistent negotiation with power in all its forms – for better and for worse. Featuring newly commissioned works by artists Richard Bell, Louisa Bufardeci, Kuba Dorabialski, Deborah Kelly, Eugenia Lim, Make or Break, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Sarah Rodigari, Abdullah MI Syed and Lara Thoms. Curated by Adam Porter and Michael Dagostino.
For more information, visit c-a-c.com.au
THE AMBASSADOR PUBLICATION
Limited 120pp edition catalogue out now
Published by 4A Centre for Contemporary Art and Museums and Galleries of New South Wales
AU $18.00
ISBN 978-0-6485066-0-7
To mark the exhibition EUGENIA LIM: THE AMBASSADOR, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Museums and Galleries of NSW have released a limited edition softcover catalogue. Featuring writing by Natalie King and Mikala Tai and photos by Zan Wimberley and Tom Ross, the book is the first major publication on Eugenia Lim’s work. Designed by Mick Boston, D.A.M. and printed by Reactiv, Sydney. With thanks to the Gordon Darling Foundation.
Available now at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney) shop and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, or online via shop.4a.com.au
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