The Full Spectrum – The Rainbow Aphorisms

David McDiarmid’s artistic practice was born postmodern. That’s the conclusion Sally Gray reaches in her recent book The Full Spectrum: David McDiarmid’s Rainbow Aphorisms, published by Project Sisu. The Rainbow Aphorisms, created by David between 1993 and 1995, were also the subject of an art exhibition at Neon Parc in Melbourne during November 2012. Co-curated by Sally Gray and Neon Parc director Geoff Newton, the show’s 31 aphorisms received glowing reviews and healthy sales. Dan Rule from The Age reported that McDiarmid’s “late text works and salacious Rainbow Aphorisms from the ‘90s…offer a condensed articulation of his vision – a proposition that posed the basic question: what is it to be a gay male artist?” While Penny Webb from ArtGuide Australia said that viewers will “be dazzled” by “an astringency that bounces off their high-coloured surfaces and is clearly addressed to the non-gay community.” Summing up the the Rainbow Aphorisms, Sally Gray concludes: “The playful visceral pleasure of  The Rainbow Aphorisms juxtaposes disease, death, fear, rage, abjection, resistance and mortality with visual excess, pleasure and glamour.” A major retrospective of McDiarmid’s work will be on show at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia in 2014.

References:
Rule, D. (2012) In Living Colour, The Age, 10 November 2012
Webb, P. (2012) David McDiarmid, ArtGuide Australia, accessed 5/12/12

You can preview The Full Spectrum by clicking on the image below.