Simon Zoric
Root, Hog, or Die (2022) by Simon Zoric was an exhibition exploring the artist’s complicated relationship with formalism, arts institutions, and his own ego.
The pop-art-inspired works included in the exhibition display a deep care for materiality, with crushed crystals, automotive paints, and cast aluminium coming together to create replications of a familiar household object.
What is that object? A series of cat litter trays complete with aluminium ‘droppings’.
Simon Zoric’s work often plays with explicit humour and satire. But when talking to Simon, he will tell you himself that he doesn’t just want to be known as the ‘funny artist’. And Simon is right, once you get over the initial reaction, his works indicate an artist striving to uncover societal and personal truths through meticulously planned bodies of work.
Image credit: SIMON ZORIC, Untitled (Blue), 2022. cast aluminium, automotive paint, quartz, apatite, 41 × 31 × 24 cm. Courtesy the artist and LON Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
Kaylee Watson sat down with the artist to ask…
Am I allowed to laugh?
Yes. Haha.
You explore some very serious themes: self-esteem, institutional fatigue and death, but there is that instant reaction where you have a grin, a giggle. How do you feel when people react that way?
I think I like that. Going through art school was when I discovered Bruce Nauman’s work, and that was a big shift for me in terms of my own practice. He talks about laughter as being a way in with people, you know, as a way to get them to engage with the work. So, I like it if people laugh, but then I hope that there’s something more they get out of it than that.
Do you see humour as the entry point for your more critical themes, or is humour itself the criticism in your most satirical works?
Yeah, I’m not sure. I guess I don’t want it to just be seen as a joke, and I think that work that is just seen as a joke doesn’t have much longevity to it. I guess you talked about there being some critique in it, like institutional critique or whatever. So, for me, it needs to be humour and something else. And that gives it a bit more depth. Like, if it’s just pure humour, then it doesn’t feel like it would have much longevity.... Subscribe to read all articles in full
