Catalyst: Maria Kozic
VAULT looks at the work of one of Australia’s most iconic artists. A provocateur and rebel, Maria Kozic’s brand of feminist art defined 1990s rad scunge and grunge.
Image credit: Maria Kozic, Manster “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyd”e and Manster “Dracular”,1986, synthetic polymer paint on wood. Collection, HOTA Gallery. Gifted by the citizens of the Gold Coast to future generations 2018© Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Charlie Hillhouse
A favourite with visitors to the National Gallery in London is Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors (1533), also known as Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve. Laden with symbolism, the double portrait intrigues with its clever optical illusion in the foreground: as the viewer physically moves from left to right, a skull appears and disappears.
Melbourne-born, New York-based multimedia artist Maria Kozic (b.1957) employs a similar optical illusion in her 1986 Manster series, constructed of painted triangular strips. As the viewer passes each work, two different portraits emerge, depending on the viewer’s physical position. One represents good, the other evil.
Kozic came to prominence in 1978 as a member of the avant-garde performance group Tsk Tsk Tsk. Her practice draws upon popular culture from music, film and comic graphics. Her feminist-orientated 1990 billboard-style artwork Maria Kozic is Bitch featured the artist in a seductive pose, holding a drill in one hand and a Ken doll in the other. Exhibited alongside her Manster series in 1987 was Master Pieces, which presented iconic 20th century artworks by Picasso, Warhol and Mondrian shattered and fragmented. The Warhol version was featured in the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Pop to Popism exhibition in 2014.
The Manster series pays homage to The Manster, a 1959 horror film in which an American reporter is transformed into a two-headed monster after taking an experimental drug. Four Manster works were first exhibited in 1987 at Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, ... Subscribe to read this article in full
