Farrell and Parkin at M.Y. Art Prospects, New York

4 September - 11 October 2008 - M.Y. Art Prospects, New York

Posted: 29 August 2008 - M.Y. ART PROSPECTS is pleased to announce Restoration, our third exhibition by the Melbourne based
artist duo, Rose Farrell and George Parkin.
Farrell and Parkin, the leading contemporary photography artists in Australia, are widely known for
their unique collaborative projects exploring the history of medicine through the application of complex
theatrical scenery using large format photography.
In Restoration, Farrell and Parkin draw their inspiration from the classical style of the Renaissance.
While their previous work has exuded the dark, raw atmosphere of the medieval period, their latest theatrical
scenes are lighter in mood and more refined. These carefully arranged tableaux bring to mind fine
Renaissance perspective drawings. Each image in the series features an injured aristocratic man or woman
lying on a sumptuously draped daybed in an environment of magnificent arches and columns. The figures
look pale and wan as if they were hovering between life and death and resigned to their fate. Papier-mâché
hands and other props attached to the figures suggest arcane medical treatments. This rather disturbing
subject matter is executed in beautiful pastel tones achieved through the “afterglow” of photographic
lighting. The images as a whole evoke a strange sense of tranquility.
Farrell and Parkin once again emphasize the fragility of human body through their enigmatic representation
of traditional medical treatments. Farrell and Parkin's fictitious historical tableaux make us aware
that the vulnerability of human body has essentially remained unchanged throughout history.
Rose Farrell was born in Brisbane in 1949. She completed a Diploma of Photography (Fine Art) at
Photography Studies College, Melbourne in 1986 after completing a Bachelor of Applied Science at
Queensland Institute of Technology in 1971. George Parkin was born in Corowa in 1949. He completed
a Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design) at Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne in 1984.
Farrell and Parkin have collaborated together for more than two decades. They have had numerous solo
and group exhibitions worldwide, including Random Acts & Traces of the Flood, Queensland Centre for
Photography, Brisbane (2006); Tranquility, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2005); The
Artists Surgery: A Constructed Reality, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria (2004); Traces of the
Flood, Paved Arts + New Media, Saskatoon, Canada (2003). We previously hosted two of their
exhibitions,Tranquility (2005) and The Trace of the Flood (2003). Works by Farrell and Parkin have
been published in numerous exhibition catalogs and other publications, including Paco Barragán's “El
Arte Que Viene (The Art To Come)” in 2002.

M.Y. ART PROSPECTS
547 West 27th St. 2nd Fl.
New York, NY 10001
(bet. 10Th & 11th Ave.)
tel. 212 268 7132
www.myartprospects.com
Subway: C or E to 23rd St.