1.11 Nadia Hernández at Station Gallery

Transcript

Hey look at this, someone’s lost their purse. Like a pretty sick Nike bum bag. Yeah, shit, it’s got an iPhone 11 in it and stuff. Alright, you wanna hit the buzzer?

2-0-1.

Such a pretty space. It’s beautiful, yeah. Okay guys, this is Hung Up. I’m Matt. I’m Aiden. Today we’re in Station Gallery in a really unique and beautiful space. So, you can see all the pictures from this show on our Instagram page at hungup.au. And just every time you hear this sound, we’re looking at a new artwork.

I think we should talk about this one first. This is awesome. Yeah, yeah. This looks like to be the, I would call it the main or the dominant work in this space. Yeah, it’s the one I was drawn to. It’s like the biggest. It’s fucking cool. And behind it, like, so there’s like this big piece of cloth with all these kind of colourful elements.

And then in front of it, suspended from like just bits of rope, is this kind of like cool, it looks to me like a bit like a Transformers head. Yeah. This guy. And like I saw it on Instagram before this and it looked way smaller on the screen obviously. And now I come and it’s like the whole banner behind it is taller than I am probably.

Sure. Yeah, one of the cool things that is like really noticeable is there’s like paint on the walls, like just behind this kind of like part of it and running through it and across it like this extension. Yeah, it’s like it’s splashed off from the artwork itself or something. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s super like colourful and kind of joyous.

I can see like a little figure there. I see that little like red mouth and eyes. Oh yeah. Yeah, it’s joyous. Yeah, it’s so sunny. Something about like a protest vibe that comes to me for some, I’m not sure if that’s but it’s got this like loud, like I don’t know, I don’t know if that’s true or that’s just because of the word that I can see.

But it could be that or it could be like some kind of like festival energy. Yeah. I mean, there’s so many interesting like if you could call them brush strokes on this. Yeah. Like it’s yeah, it’s just so fucking cool. Like yeah, there’s like wiggles and swirls and like, yeah, what do you call them? Like springs and spirals and like these like, you know, nasty bright colours.

And it’s just like, it’s just so loud and energetic. Mm. Yeah, they’re all really like cramped up next to each other. And it’s very like, it’s like loud that like all these different patterns and like shapes. With this like wonderful head like floating out in front. The head is so cool.

So like, you know, all these other colours are just kind of like screaming and then this head is like just black and white. It almost looks like a bit collagey. Like it’s not paper. I think it’s like the same stuff from before. It’s like this big thick like. Yeah. I wanted to call it technical fabric. Yeah. It’s techy. Totally. Techy.

So this is all the one artist Nadia Hernandez, right? Yeah. This whole show is her I think. Yeah. I’ve been following her on Instagram for ages because it’s just like a really good feed anyway. And actually like I didn’t see that much art. It was mostly like Instagram stuff. I mean, I did see some art on her feed, but my favourite thing that I saw was like making dinner with mom.

I think it was like maybe Christmas dinner or something like a big festive season. And it was this like, like multi stage like seven part meal with all the most beautiful looking food in it. I was like taking screenshots to try and like figure out a recipe. So cool. So good. Man, the stuff on the wall is so cool. Yeah.

I love it. It’s like, it’s exactly like what we’re into. Like it’s kind of working against like the white cubiness of like a gallery. Yeah. This like very pretty neat kind of like cloistered space. And then there’s just like paint on the wall. Yeah. It looks like naughty. It’s like, you’re not allowed to draw on the walls. Yeah. But most like wall stuff looks kind of dirty, but this is like totally like very much artist graffiti.

Like it’s very beautiful and abstract like lines and squiggles and gestures. Yeah. It’s cool. It’s kind of like, yeah, we were gonna, we were just about to talk about another work, but I think we’re still really talking about this first one. It’s like the, it’s so expansive. Like the, all the hanging, um, all these strings are like ropes tied up and tight.

And then like the expanding out into the walls, but then also the ribbons like coming down and coiling up on the floor. It’s like really like expansive and it’s really cool. Like light way. Yeah, exactly. I was just going to talk about those coils as well. One of the ribbons, it’s kind of this like deep green ribbon and it’s fallen on the ground and kind of coiled up.

And you can like that same kind of a gesture is repeated on the wall and these like spirals and squiggles. I think it’s really cool to like express a gesture in like multiple forms with different textures. It’s so successful as like, yeah, whatever the fuck it is. It’s like, I’m a painting, I’m a sculpture, I’m an installation and like graffiti.

Like I’m all of these things. True. And just like, man, like, yeah, I haven’t seen anything like quite like this before. Neither. Yeah. It’s so accomplished. It’s so cool. I love it. And now on our left, there’s like, this is the same world. It’s a collage this time with these beautiful, like striking, like chemical colors.

Like those, what would you call them? Like fluoro pink or orangey pink. Yeah. And they’re just absolutely leaping out off of the page. Yeah. It’s, it’s daddling. It’s so bright and so cool. So these like cutouts, they’re like, it’s like painted card and then they’ve all been cut out and arranged on like a piece of backing paper.

Mm-hmm. And it is quite chaotic. Like we’ve got all these different colors. We’ve got like, like the classic motif of like a child drawing, like the sun in the top left corner. Mm-hmm. Um, there’s something like naive, but like super fucking serious artist about it. Yeah. Which is super, which is really cool. Yeah.

And just this thing, just this like assortment of all these different like shapes and colors and then mixed in with it is this kind of like poetry. Yeah. And then behind we’ve got like just drop, you know, written with a pencil in the background. Yeah. There’s a little bit of English here. There’s like a word, a theme. And triumph. Triumph. And these figures look kind of angelic, like these little squiggly angels.

Sure. Yeah. It’s, it’s a really like interesting, um, play on if you can consider this main, um, like big work that we started with, if like that sets the sort of limits of what the, this like show is about, then this is like, um, one of, you know, um, variations on that theme.

And it’s like, it’s kind of just as deep to me. Like, even though, yeah, it’s like pretty two dimensional. What I love about it is that there are layers, but like, this is flat, you know, it’s in a frame, like just a nice, neat, like wooden, thin frame. The, some of the words I can make out is it says baby back. Baby back.

One kilo oregano. Yeah. Seco. The last one is ayo. It’s like a recipe, some kind of recipe. Yeah. Bits of food. Yeah. That’s cool. Like, um, including like sort of food and like home life stuff. There’s like, it kind of looks like a boat or maybe not. Yeah. And there’s like a signpost. And there’s these little like figures.

They look like little jelly beans, but they’re just four or five of them. Like you could say they’re like getting off the boat or something to go and have a sunny day, but they’re just these little ovals, like gray, brown, blue. They’re almost like office colors. They’re these very safe, like neutral gray tones, but there was so much personality and the way that they’re placed, they look like they’re like leaping out of this fucking canoe.

Totally. I can see them like bouncing a lot or something, you know? Yeah. Let’s move along to this one.

So this is like a series of three panels or like, um, collages. And this is like the darkest one. It’s got a black background. There’s so much like, um, with all of these like exploration of texture and like, um, like really interesting, like, um, combinations.

It’s like, um, how we, we think of like poets joining like interesting words together or images, like the like thickness of the paper you can see along the sort of razor blade cuts of the edge of it. And it’s just so, it’s so satisfying and like subtle, but there’s heaps going on. There’s also like the Tweety bird. Like who is that character again?

Tweety bird. Yeah. Killing it. I was going to say, I think you’re doing about like, or getting at like the texture of language or like, you know, the way a poem, if you really dig into it has so much kind of like, like, I don’t know, power and like force and richness, like in a, in a line of poetry, this feels like, uh, the artist is kind of doing that.

Like, but within the world of craft, like exploring, like, you know, these like fundamental, like, you know, your first craft materials, like paper and card and like crayons and colors and like paint. And then just like really like kind of, I don’t know. It’s almost like a, what do you call it? Like a cut up, like that collage thing where you like break things down and then reassemble them.

And like, you know, you can kind of see the, the makings. Yeah. As well as like the final product, like in this Tweety bird, like the first thing you recognize as a person is Tweety bird. But then if you look closer, like, you know, she’s kind of like higgledy-piggledy, like her eyes are like different shapes. That’s cool. You can see the kind of craft. That’s cool.

Like this coarse craftness at play with this, like, really, um, I’m going to say like beauty, but there’s like this, like coarseness mixed with this, like compositional skill. Yeah. Yeah. It’s graceful and it’s like rhythmic. Yeah, exactly. It’s not, you know, it’s not just like, it’s not just like relishing and like rolling around in the like flavors of all these different things.

It’s like very considered and, and like, um, powerful because of that. You can imagine trying to make something like this or seeing a version of this that’s just pure chaos for your eyes. Yeah. Yeah. If I tried, it would suck. And like, like, ah. We don’t even need to say that. Well, yeah, not even, but like, you know, even if, yeah. Yeah.

I mean to say that like, it’s, it’s this really cool, like bringing together of like disparity and chaos into like a, yeah, graceful and kind of like, um, yeah. Harmonic composition. For sure. Yeah, for sure. Let’s talk about this.

Yeah. Cool. This is like, um, really exciting for me because I’ve in, I guess in the lockdown, but for a long time, I’ve been interested in like fabrics and textiles in art or just in their own right as like items of clothing. And here I recognize a couple of like, um, types of, uh, textile.

Like I can see some corduroy and like some cotton and maybe linen, but this is, um, to describe it more fully is another hanging, um, panel or banner or something like that. Yeah. With like, to like a collage or, um, an assemblage or something of, of things, but this time they’re knitted on and it’s very beautiful.

Um, long, this is called a running stitch, but with a big chunky stitches, but like visually it’s like so fucking cool. Like there’s a hand, can you see these two hands and they’re like gloves or something, but they’re, they’re like all mangled and folded back on themselves. They’re like gloves, but they also have fingernails. Like they have fingernails. Yeah.

There’s like this lovely, it looks like felt like one of the hands is, has these like nice red felt fingernails and the other one have, has this brilliant pink fingernails. The colors in this are just these kind of like, yeah, natural earthy colors. They’re just so comfortable and cool. So yeah, this is like, you know, the overall composition is the same. We’ve got like a ribbon coming out.

We have like, you know, the big sort of panel of material, but the panel in this one, instead of being kind of like, chaoticly inscribed with squiggles and characters, I just lost the loop. Colors is just this like, even kind of blue. It’s almost like a little quilt. Yeah, totally. It’s funny, me talking about the structural integrity of fabrics and then I go to pull my pants up just now a little bit and I lost a loop.

No. Not good. This is, this is wonderful. I love the corduroy, the hat. Yeah. It looks like a, like a Robin Hood. The hat, yeah. Maybe it’s a hat. I’m seeing a hat. Or a leaf or something, anything. Yeah. It could, yeah. These hands look like they’re kind of playing or like sort of toying with these handkerchiefs. True. Loosely. True. These are called again, pleated, like pleated sort of handkerchief things.

Really sick. Cool. The canvas itself is this totally raw, like a little bit of a little bit of a little bit. grey-brown color. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Cool. Actually, we talked about some of these paintings. Paintings. The canvas itself is this totally raw, like grey-brown color. And it’s been unwashed or like there’s no intermediate paint layer between the, like the painting itself

and the canvas. It’s just like applied straight on. Yeah. It looks, it’s got these kind of crayon qualities, this stuff, but it’s not crayon. I don’t think it’s. No, it’s not. Nightmare, number one. Yeah. It’s got this kind of like figure, like side on. Yeah. If I take this to be a nightmare, like, yeah, it would suck to live this nightmare.

You know, it’s kind of half formed double eye, like strange figure with features and like strange protrusions. But I think like for, I mean, I don’t know if we should talk about them individually or as a group of three. I mean, I guess both is fair enough. Yeah. Um, but yeah, there’s this like, again, this kind of, um, uh, play between textures and figures.

And like we were saying the gesture of the spiral, um, versus these kind of up and down scratches or whatever is zigzags. But in these three, it’s a lot more focused and like limit limited in terms of gesture. There’s like really only four or five, let’s say available. But then with, um, this, uh, really, I would say magical play of color.

Um, for sure. It’s absolutely wild. Like the colors here are just like, my eyes are freaking out. Like it’s so like profound and bold and bright. And I think just applying the oil directly on the linen, it’s just giving it this like, yeah, otherworldly, almost like cartoon. Yeah.

But there’s something, I guess it feels like earthy, you know, with the way that these, um, because they’re just being kind of like painted onto this coarse material. Like you can see all the kind of like fuzzy. Yeah. It does have this real like crayon effect. Yeah. The, the, the background is, um, being so, uh, dark, it pushes everything even further off.

Like these very bright colors further away from the canvas or the linen or whatever it is. There’s this throughout this whole show. There’s this really cool interplay between like abstraction and like, you know, forms. Like there’s like these suggestions of animals or characters or like this one. Like a tree or a pea pod or something like we’ve got a crown, kind of, um, sculpture figure that you were referring to before.

But then we’re also in this world of just like patterns and colors and shapes. And, but it very much is like a world. And I think like magical is the word, like they are, uh, just so resonant. Yeah. Agreed. And like that, that I guess is one of the big, would you call it a theme of this show or one of the big interests of this show?

Is this like slipping in and out of abstraction? Like for example, this middle panel is a great example. I can see like stuff that maybe my brain wants to make into things. Like I think this is an orange hand and maybe that’s a silhouette of a body with like a head there. But, um, the, the, the point I think is not that they are things.

It’s about what they could be or, or, um, how they may not be things. Yeah. Yeah. This is, uh, some really special stuff guys. Come and see it. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I love this. Who have you found? Like another cartoon character. It looks like a pair of eyes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And then there’s like, so what is it? It almost looks like a dinosaur or like a plant or something. A frog. But he’s just painted in this such beautiful green. Yeah. Look at this flower, dude. Damn. She’s good. This would be a really good show for like, um, taking kids to like get them excited about art, you know? Sure.

Cause it’s like, it’s so, it’s so not, it’s so light. And like, um, like it, it really, it puts itself in you and with you. Like, yeah, it’s like, it’s not like art that you have to fight to like figure out and stuff, you know, it’s just, 100%. 100%. Yeah. So this is like another painting opposite those three and we’re in the same kind of world, but it’s flanked by two of the kind of like hanging canvases that we were speaking about earlier, or they’re not canvases, just, you know, hanging sculptures or whatever.

So I’ve got one word. I guess that’s linen. Revolver. And the other one in Spanish, reposa. And they’re kind of flanking this painting and it’s got this, like with the, the way the wall is like, what do you, how do you describe that? Um, there’s like, um, little archways or like decorative arches. Like, can we just take a step back? Cause like, sure.

Wall is just such an image. Like it’s so grand into play of like, you know, the way that this painting is framed in a space and this like brilliant balcony. Yeah, it’s true. This is a real, um, clever install and like, um, clever layout. Yeah. A little bit of the wall painting has snuck out of it’s like the bigger room and made it into this main gallery space.

It’s such a fun, like, like excellent show this. I’m really overwhelmed. Yeah. I was wondering why there was such a kind of like, aside from the way this painting has been framed with, you know, the, the architecture and the kind of canvas, the hanging canvases on the side, that white underlay, like it, you know, nothing else has that in this room.

So it like really gave it this kind of like shining, like angelic, like, ah, like this is what we presented for that. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s very pure, like visual play. This one, I think you could say this is the least figurative of the works that we’ve seen. If you discount the like wall painting, it’s like, it’s so about just vision and like play and lightness and, you know, composition.

There’s, there, there, there’s very little like figurative for my brain even to like subconsciously make a myth. Yeah. I think like it’s something about something challenging with artists that like know how to compose a picture so well and know how to use color so well. Like an artist that is just so kind of like technical.

Uh, oftentimes the work is boring. Like that’s the trade off you get. You get like really interesting subject matter, but they’re really shit technicians. And sometimes that works or like vice versa. Like I’m an absolute master. Yeah. But all I can do is, yeah. Are you talking about those like hyper realistic, like, well, not even there, but yeah, that’s a perfect example of all technique.

Right. No artistic sensibility. Yeah. But it’s really exciting to see such like fun and, you know, juicy sink your teeth in work, but then like masterfully, like, I just cannot, I don’t think I’ve seen such a like powerful, like, I don’t know, expression of colors. Yeah. And it’s, it’s so orderly still this work.

Like it’s got, it’s got a logic to it, you know, even though it’s, we were just saying it’s like very pure abstraction. It’s got like this very beautiful, like, yeah, harmony and order. Like you can see that the, the red was put down before the yellow was right. Like, you know, and let’s say that it looks like the green was put down before either of those two, that big sort of green thick mark.

So cool. The shade is going to be in my dreams tonight. Yeah, me too. Awesome. I think we should call it a wrap. Yeah, let’s get some pictures. Yeah, I got to get pictures. Okay, great. Cool, man. So that was our coverage of Nadia Hernandez at Station Gallery.

Definitely go have a look. It’s on Bayswater Road in Kings Cross and you just got to buzz yourself in 201 or they’ll buzz you in. Two minutes from the station. It’s real close. And that one gets a big recommend from me and Aidan here. Yeah, really, really powerful work. Thank you, Nadia. Yeah. Thanks, Nadia. Yeah, we’re hungup.au on Instagram.

And all you got to do is go over there and hit that follow button. Episode’s out on Fridays now. Anything else you want to say? No, I’ll speak to you next week. Cool. See ya. Bye. I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which this episode was recorded and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today.

Again, every church should watch our死 as long as these Philippians 17 sites were controlled by eigen poles and treating elevators as cool as possible. Every church should check us out if this episode also anticipates some fee as possible in European visits in regions with 45 square darkness and fears that long notches were packed up as possible and chemicals on earth that sounds around for 60TIm andplexed curators. Bye. Thank you.

Show notes

EPISODE 11 🐥🍃🥳🧄 This week we get gassed up about @nando_nandez show Con la punta de los dedos (With the tips of your fingers) at Station Gallery in Kings Cross. We talked about gestures and colour, mixing the abstract w/ the figurative and how artists create worlds. Thanks to @stationgalleryaustralia for having us ❤️ You can see all the pics of the artworks and follow along with this episode on our instagram page at @hungup.au