Dean Cross
BLACK SMOKE
WHITE WALLS

Dean Cross is an artist primarily working across installation, sculpture and painting. Interested in the collisions of materials, ideas and histories, Cross is motivated by an understanding that his practice sits within a continuum of the oldest living culture on Earth – and enacts First Nations sovereignty through expanded contemporary art methodologies. His cross-disciplinary practice often confronts the legacies of modernism, rebalancing dominant cultural and social histories.

BLACK SMOKE WHITE WALLS takes form as an environment of quietude, one intent on provisioning a place of solitude, even isolation. As a space, its ambiance is one of presence without distraction, eerily dullening out the sounds of the outdoor world, making one more conscious of one’s own internal thinking. It is an environment of contemplation, yet also one of anticipation. This space leans on the theatrical convention of the fourth wall, whereby one is cognisant of others – be they audiences, watchers, voyeurs, witnesses – yet separated, insulated and potentially protected from them. Centred within this acoustically altered chamber, devoid of colour, Dean Cross positions an ensemble of elements awaiting activation. In the eyes of the artist, this environment is a rehearsal space for an as yet unperformed opera. The elements contained within all perform distinct functions, the libretto, the props table, the costume rack, the lighting design. Upon crossing the threshold into the space, one is implicated within the opera, in the words of the artist, ‘as either chorus or soloist, depending on their ego.’ In this environment of seeming calm, there is nevertheless an atmosphere of heightened suspense, as if awaiting an impending, unknown and imminent threat. BLACK SMOKE WHITE WALLS is conceived as the second component on a developing trilogy of projects, foregrounded by the iteration Overture (GODZILLA)(STATION, Eora Sydney), and set to evolve over this coming year.

Cross has exhibited widely across the Australian continent and beyond and his work is held by major institutions including The Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Cross has shown his work extensively across Australia, this includes the FREE/STATE, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, curated by Sebastian Goldspink (2022), Sometimes I Miss the Applause: Dean Cross, Heide Museum of Modern Art, curated by Melissa Keys (2022), LaTrobe Art Museum, Bendigo, curated by Karen Annett-Thomas (2022). Bus Projects, Melbourne, Carriageworks, Sydney (2022), Monuments, 4A Gallery, Sydney, curated by Bridie Moran (2022), Primavera 2021 #29, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, curated by Hannah Presley, (2021) We Change the World, National Gallery of Victoria: Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne curated by Hannah Presley (2021), Absorption, Asad Raza & Kaldor Public Projects, The Clothing Store, Sydney (2019).

Dean Cross is represented by STATION, Naarm Melbourne and Eora Sydney.