Queer Australian Art and KINK acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of the lands and waters of this continent. KINK conducts its work on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation in Naarm Melbourne, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples in Meanjin Brisbane and the Gadigal lands of the Eora Nation, Sydney. We pay respect to elders past, present, and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.

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Rhapsody Happens Kingpins

2006

Description

In 2006, Gertrude Contemporary presented The Kingpins' first major solo show in Melbourne, following the preceding inclusion of their work in exhibitions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sydney, Korea and Indonesia. The Kingpins are a collaborative group from Sydney whose performance, video and installation works incorporate drag king culture, subversion, pop iconography and musical oddities, challenging our assumptions at every turn and forcing us to re-assess who we think we are. For this exhibition, a Rhapsody Happens presented as a three-channel video installation which narrates a surreal biker odyssey, replete with 50-foot go-go banshees, mirrored bikers suspended in rapturous mid-jump, and a glittering nighttime roadscape to hold these strange and impossible bodies. Rhapsody Happens pushed the Kingpins' practice into a captivating new terrain, amplifying their darkly subversive mix of gender fluidity, subculture and twisted symbolism, and intensifying their cheekily critical take on our culture of consumer trash.

Supported by ACCA, ACMI and Manfax Paint Centre.

Medium

Three-channel video installation

Resources

Further reading
View the 27 artworks tagged: Video in the database.
View the 22 artworks tagged: Installation in the database.