Rat man
1980
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
197.6 × 274.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1984
© Juan Davila. Licensed by Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art
Gallery location
Gallery 11
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
Born in Santiago, Chile, Juan Davila moved to Melbourne in 1974 and has worked between the two countries ever since. He is engaged in debates around aesthetics, politics and sexuality, drawing on the rich and varied histories of Latin America, Australia, Europe and North America. Through his use of quotation and references to known works of art, he deconstructs the language of an artwork.
‘My interest was to propose an alternative reading of art history, if you like, to play with the idea of belonging. If an artist at the end of the world could redo the art history of the West, getting everything upside down within a painting, confusing styles and dates, mixing them with psychoanalytic issues and other narratives, it would be creation as a poetical act. It would also pose resistance as internal within the creative act.’ – Juan Davila
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in black fibre-tipped pen on reverse u.r.: Juan DAVILA 1980. / "RAT MAN"
Accession Number
AC8-1984
Department
Contemporary Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation