As we confront the impact and scope of COVID-19, arguably an event of immense socio-economic implications, this print by Franck Gohier(b.France 1968) a leading Darwin contemporary artist, master-printer and provocateur, represents the role artists play in presenting and preserving as a form of documentation the events of our time, not as a-historical, random phenomena, but as events intimately connected to and shaped by our historical past.

Gohier is referencing an iconic Soviet image, created by the Soviet Constructivist Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956). This 1924 propaganda poster “Books (Please)! In All Branches of Knowledge” featured Lilya Brik, a member of Russia’s avant-garde.

The aim of the commission is to donate copies of this limited 99 edition A3 print to NT and other Australian cultural institutions which hold in their collections Gohier’s work. The work is printed on acid free 300 gsm ivory board, and each print is individually signed by the artist. 

50 are available for purchase $75 plus postage. These are quickly selling out, with enthusiastic orders coming in from across Australia and USA. 

To order a print please send me an email with quantity and your postal address to: k9999r@gmail.com after which I will provide an invoice with payment details. Net proceeds raised will form the foundation from which future artists will be approached for paid commissions for poster, photographic and video art.

Background to the Commission

I decided to commission Franck Gohier for a limited edition print, on any topical issue deemed by the artist as encapsulating the times and events that we find ourselves in. Our professional relationship stems from 2013 when I launched my curatorial ambition with Flash Art: Part 1, The Don Hotel (2013).  One of my curatorial missions was to produce visual art experiences across Darwin locations unconnected with art, featuring and foregrounding Darwin contemporary artists whose practice incorporates Darwin's unique location, history, culture and in-built environment and situating these within broader international art historical concerns.

Despite his status as a leading mid-career artist of national and international repute, with works in important private and public collections, Gohier never once hesitated, immediately responding to requests to lend or create new work, develop curatorial themes and narratives and assisting in the presentation and installation. 

I gained an understanding of his practice over the years, through our frequent meetings in his professional studio, a temple to contemporary art,  behind his suburban house in Millner, hatching, planning, developing and presenting a number of group shows: D.Evolution (2014) and a solo show Franck! (2017) to which he authorized reproduction of his iconic screen prints on vinyl, to launch the Lane Art Space, as part of an NT Government initiative to activate the Darwin CBD through art.

Here are three poster images created by Gohier responding to these exhibitions:

In 2018 with great enthusiasm I accepted an invitation from Art Monthly's editor Michael Fitzgerald to review Gohier's  MAGNT exhibition. As Art Monthly do not have a digital platform, I have reproduced it here on my blog: The Complexity of Contemporaneity (2018, Art Monthly, Exhibition Review).

Exemplifying the highest integrity, his leadership in maintaining a vibrant art and cultural community has been forged not only with a dedicated art practice for over thirty years, but also through his generous support and encouragement to others emerging in the field. Comradeship, collaboration, fellowship are the values Gohier extols. In my view these are the values most necessary to help us overcome the fragility of our human experience as has been exposed by this pandemic. 

Gohier's works have been acquired by Artbank, the Australian National Gallery Canberra, the Casula Powerhouse Art Centre, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Griffith University, the Museum and Art Gallery NT, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Charles Darwin University Art Gallery and Collection, as well as numerous regional galleries and private collections throughout the world.

To contact the artist visit his Red Hand print website: https://www.redhandprints.net/

Franck Gohier is represented:

Melbourne by James Makin Gallery: www.jamesmakingallery.com

Brisbane by Mitchell Fine Art Gallery: admin@mitchellfineartgallery.com

As we confront the impact and scope of COVID-19, arguably an event of immense socio-economic implications, this print by Franck Gohier, a leading Darwin contemporary artist, master-printer and provocateur, represents to me the role artists play in presenting and preserving as a form of documentation the events of our time, not as a-historical, random phenomena, but as events intimately connected to our historical past.

Gohier is referencing an iconic Russian propaganda image, created by one of my favourite artists, the Soviet Constructivist Alexander Rodchenko(1891-1956). This 1924 propaganda poster “Books (Please)! In All Branches of Knowledge” featured Lilya Brik, a member of Russia’s avant-garde.

Books, knowledge, history, critical reasoning and thinking are now more important than ever.

So, let us all take this time of enforced social isolation to immerse ourselves in the power of specific and broader knowledge. Let’s value our artists for the opportunity they present to engage us in the complex dialogues that we must all participate in, irrespective of ideology or identity, to confront as a species the challenges that lay ahead in securing our common good.

The aim of the commission is to donate copies of this A3 screen print on acid free, 300gsm ivory board to NT and other Australian cultural institutions which hold in their collections Gohier’s work.

50 are available for purchase $75 plus postage. DM me for details. Proceeds raised will form the foundation from which future artists will be approached for commissions for poster, Performance, photographic and video art.