Transforming the residue of consumer society, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro re-imagine the forms and systems that surround us.
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro are Australian artists who transform the residue of consumer society, re-imagining the forms and systems that surround us. Their work is characterised by a playful reinvention of prefabricated structures and the assemblage of everyday objects into extraordinary sculptures and installations.
This exhibition, the artists’ first museum survey, drew on the MCA Collection and private loans to bring together a selection of key works and a new commission, Stasis (2012), on the MCA front lawn. Demonstrating the depth and diversity of their practice, it comprised both monumental and intimate pieces in a variety of media including sculpture, installation and photography.
Working as a collaborative duo for over a decade, Healy and Cordeiro have spent much of their artistic careers travelling and this nomadic lifestyle plays a central role in their art. Works in the exhibition explored ideas of movement and transportation, the practicalities and emotional upheavals of storing and shipping possessions, and the complex infrastructures that enable global mobility in the contemporary era. Travelling often brings about powerful memories of home and the question of what constitutes home today is a major theme in the artists’ practice. A number of works looked at domestic space examining its symbolism, functionality, affordability, construction and decay. Other projects raised questions about what will define humanity in years to come and the destruction that often accompanies human progress.
With a distinctive humour and aesthetic, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro’s work invites us to look at how we live, drawing attention to the gaps between our grand aspirations and everyday reality.
